Robotics

HEX Taiwan’s new drone navigation kit: Here+, now features u blox's NEO M8P high precision RTK GNSS module. HEX is an open source hardware manufacturer which produces open source drone autopilots. The Here+ RTK GNSS kit is supported by Ardupilot out of the box. It consists of a round rover designed to be mounted on the drone and is connected to the flight controller using the supplied 8 pin CLIK-Mate connector (for the autopilot Pixhaw...

The registration for the pinnacle event of UK Robotics Week 2017, the International Robotics Showcase is now open. Jointly organised by the EPSRC UK-RAS Network and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the International Robotics Showcase will take place at IET Savoy Place in London from 9.00am–6.30pm.

As there has been a recent growth in autonomous flying drones, driven by advances in technology and economies of scale, thoughts turn to underwater drones becoming as cheap and ubiquitous as their airborne counterparts. Guest blog by Mirko Bernacchi, Mouser Electronics. 

  Like so many innovations, IBEX2 is driven by passion; passion in the team behind it that believes they can solve a huge perennial problem for livestock farmers - at a fraction of the cost of alternative methods. That team is made up of three individuals with a complementary set of skills; Dr Charles Fox, Pete Williams and Ed Gummow.

A new automated cartridge refill cell developed by a team of UK maintenance engineers has been built around a Mitsubishi Electric articulated arm robot. The cell quickly and accurately refills printer cartridges, making the company’s recycling programme more cost effective to operate. The solution has proved so successful that it is now being rolled-out to other plants around the world.

  Newton Labs and AREVA NP successfully completed a robotic examination of a filled CST (Condensate Storage Tank) using Phased Array UT and VT-1 Visual Examination at a US nuclear facility in April. The exam satisfied requirements for license renewal and the NEI 09-14 directive on buried pipes and tanks.

  In a series of experiments using teams of human players and robotic AI players, the inclusion of 'bots' boosted the performance of human groups and the individual players, researchers found. The study appears in the journal Nature.

Roxanne Abercrombie of Business Automation Specialist, Parker Software, explains the role of intelligent assistants for both consumers and businesses.Things didn’t run smoothly when the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey toyed with artificial intelligence. When asking to be let back inside the spaceship, supercomputer HAL eerily responded, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Thankfully, the pers...

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the number of robots installed by the French car industry rose 22% to 1,400 units – compared with 700 units in the UK (an increase of seven percent). The automotive sector is one of the main driving forces modernising the French economy: with a robot density of 940 units per 10,000 workers, France currently ranks second within the European Union - the UK ranks tenth with 606 ...

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed the first soft robot that is capable of walking on rough surfaces, such as sand and pebbles. The 3D-printed, four-legged robot can climb over obstacles and walk on different terrains. Researchers led by Michael Tolley, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of California San Diego, will present the robot at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Autom...