Meet the robot that will almost certainly steal your data entry job
For all the talk of paperless offices, go into just about any modern workplace and you’ll almost certainly find stacks of documents piled up on shelves. Ripcord is a robotics startup which has developed a machine for scanning documents at record-breaking speeds. Here's how it works.
South Korea is getting a world-class robot museum that will be built by robots
A new, cutting-edge history of robotics museum in Seoul, South Korea, is being built by robots. Here's how the Robot Science Museum is being constructed using machine intelligence -- and exactly when interested parties can expect to pay the finished location a visit in person.
Baristas beware, Bbox cafe uses robots to brew your morning coffee
Want your morning coffee and pastry prepared by robot? Bbox, a new coffee shop in downtown Berkeley, California, lets customers place their order by app and then uses cutting-edge robots to take care of the rest. Here's how it works -- and what it means for the future of cafes as we know them.
This oddball Japanese robot will fold your clothes and do your laundry
Hate doing your own laundry? A Japanese robotics startup, Mira Robotics, created a telepresence robot which lets you hire another person to remotely fold your clothes for you, via machine. Here's how it works and when you'll hopefully be able to give it a go for yourself.
Tentacle-like robotic vines exist. We’re not sure if we’re excited or terrified
Researchers from Italy’s Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia have developed the first tendril-like soft robot able to climb and curl like plants. The approach could one day be used to create futuristic wearable devices which can morph their shape depending on the situation.
A robot called Stan aims to take the stress out of airport parking
Stan is an autonomous valet parking robot that not only saves drivers lots of time at an airport, but also helps parking lots to significantly increase capacity. A trial of the technology -- developed by Paris-based Stanley Robotics -- will take place this summer at Gatwick, one of the U.K.'s busiest airports.
Tiny medical microrobots can shape-shift to navigate through your insides
Researchers from Switzerland have developed tiny, adaptable microrobots capable of changing their shape to better navigate around the inside of the human body. The hope is that these origami-inspired robots could one day be used for performing surgery or delivering drugs where required.
World’s biggest fleet of campus delivery robots now transporting student meals
The world’s largest fleet of delivery robots on a university campus is coming to Virginia’s George Mason University. Starting today, Mason’s 40,000 students, faculty, and staff can get everything from pizza to Starbucks coffee delivered directly to them by one of 25 robots.
A Japanese hotel fires half its robot staff for being bad at their jobs
Japan’s oddball Henn na Hotel has fired half of its 243 robot staff. The reason? Because these labor-saving machines were causing more problems than they were solving -- and requiring humans to come in and fix things as a result. These are some of the robots that got the chop.
Short film celebrates New Yorker’s amazing robot costumes
New York City resident Peter Kokis creates stunning robot costumes out of household trash. His designs are huge, heavy, and extremely intricate, and never fail to turn heads when he's out and about. A new documentary short offers a fascinating look at Kokis and his Transformers-inspired creations.
Will Fido take a bite out of delivery robots? Study uses guide dogs to find out
A charity recently partnered with autonomous delivery robot company Starship Technologies to test the impact autonomous technologies are likely to have on guide dogs when they encounter them. The results? They get on just fine. That's great news for robot delivery services.
From drones to smart pills, 2018 saw significant tech advances in medicine
Robots, A.I. algorithms, and drone deliveries are increasingly found in just about every industry and profession, Why not the medical world, too? Here are 2018's most significant landmark events where cutting-edge technology met medicine -- for better or, in one case, for worse.
Lovot is a cute companion robot that wants to give you affection
It won't do the housework or cut the grass, but it might make you happy. We're talking about Lovot, a new companion robot out of Japan. It's been designed by Tokyo-based Groove X, whose CEO Kaname Hayashi worked extensively on SoftBank's Pepper robot before he left to set up his own company.
High-tech dancing robot turns out to be a guy in a costume
A Russian TV audience was impressed recently by an adult-sized "robot" that could dance and talk. But when some viewers began pointing out that the android's actions were a little bit weird, and that it had no sensors, the truth finally emerged ... it was a fella in a robot suit.
Delivery robot goes up in flames while out and about in California
A small meal-delivery robot suddenly caught fire in Berkeley, California, on Friday. The robot's maker, Kiwi, said the incident was caused by a faulty battery. The blaze was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt, but the episode is still a troubling one for the fledgling robot delivery industry.
Rise of the Machines: Here’s how much robots and A.I. progressed in 2018
2018 has generated no shortage of news, and the fast-changing worlds of artificial intelligence and robotics are no exception. Here are our picks for the most exciting and game changing examples of A.I. and robots that we saw in the last 12 months. Get ready to have your mind blown!
Postmates’ to roll out Minion-like autonomous delivery robots in 2019
On-demand delivery firm Postmates is about to employ a cute little robot to work alongside its human delivery personnel. Called Serve, the wheel-based bot can carry items weighing up to 50 pounds and has a range of 30 miles. It'll hit the streets first in Los Angeles, with more cities welcoming the robot next year.
Robot janitors will soon be scrubbing the floors at your local Walmart
Hundreds of robot janitors will soon be working at Walmart stores across the U.S. The company says the autonomous floor scrubbers will free its human staff from monotonous tasks, giving them more time to focus on customers. The rollout follows in-store testing of the technology over the last year.
This weird wearable robot arm will feed you and your dinner companion
Researchers in Australia have developed an oddball chest-mounted social feeding robot system which uses a robotic arm to feed either the wearer or their dinner partner. Oh, yes, and the whole thing’s guided by facial recognition technology, too. Is this the future of dining tech?
Bottle-flipping robots may be the most millennial thing we’ve ever seen
Until drones start vaping, you're unlikely to see anything more high-tech millennial than a recent contest in Japan in which robots built by high-schoolers competed to pull off some seriously impressive bottle-flipping feats. Check it out in all its jaw-dropping robot goodness.
Shipping crate filled with 3D-printing robots may be the future of construction
Autodesk has created a robot-filled shipping container which may very well represent the future of construction work. Being shown off at this week's Autodesk University Las Vegas event, the crate contains two robots which can be used to 3D print custom components for building.
Replaced by robots: 10 jobs that could be hit hard by the A.I. revolution
There’s no doubt that A.I. and other tech is going to change the face of employment as we know it. According to one famous study, 47 percent of currently existing jobs in America are at high risk of potential automation in the coming decades. Here are 10 jobs at particular risk.
Autonomous package-delivery robots are ready to steal your mailman’s job
Starship Technologies is launching a robot package-delivery service in the U.S. and U.K. For a monthly subscription fee, customers will be able to get packages delivered at a time and place of their convenience. You can even use a mobile app to check up on your delivery!
Tiny FlyCroTug drones can open doors and pull objects 40 times their weight
Tiny new drones that can pull objects of up to 40 times their own weight have been developed by scientists working in the U.S. and Switzerland. The drones can perform complex tasks like lassoing a door handle to open it or navigating small spaces to deliver bottles of water in a rescue scenario.
Tokyo robotic warehouse needs almost no human workers
Uniqlo has unveiled its first robot-powered warehouse that requires 90 percent fewer human workers and can operate around the clock. The Japanese clothing giant plans to invest close to $1 billion dollars to convert all of its warehouses worldwide into high-tech shipping hubs.
Boston Dynamics is trying to make fetch happen with its new working robot dog
Boston Dynamics wants to see Spot in the workplace, but not as part of take-your-dog-to-work days. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the Massachusetts-based technology company believes its extraordinary robo-dog is now ready to start work, and a new video shows exactly why.
MIT’s creepy-crawly robot can help monitor your health
Researchers from MIT are building a palm-sized bipedal robot called Skinbot that’s designed to crawl over your body using suction-cup feet, modeled on the adhesive abilities of leeches or cephalopods. Here's how it could be used as a personal health guardian just a few years from now.
These crazy alien-like structures were built by MIT’s silkworm-inspired robots
MIT's swarm of silkworm-inspired Fiberbots can spin fiberglass threads into tall structures resembling otherworldly plants from a sci-fi movie. One day, they be used to carry out construction work in far-flung inhospitable environments, like Mars. Check them out in action.
7 ambitious DARPA projects that could revolutionize the armed forces
With a multibillion dollar annual budget and access to some of the sharpest minds around, few research labs can dream of matching DARPA. Here are 7 of the amazing projects they're creating. It seems that tomorrow's U.S. military is going to have access to some pretty amazing tech!
Survey says: We’d rather let robots cook than drive
A Study.com survey on people's comfort with artificial intelligence in everyday life found that fully half of us would be okay with robot chefs and journalists, while less than a third would want a robot at the wheel of their car. Even fewer would want a robot to drive their kid to school or defend them in court.
Robots are going to steal 75 million jobs by 2025 — but there’s no need to panic
The robot job takeover may happen a bit sooner than you think. According to a new paper published by the World Economic Forum, half of all work tasks will be capable of being carried out by machines by 2025. That is about 75 million jobs in total. But they'll create far, far more.
Moxi the ‘friendly’ hospital robot wants to help nurses, not replace them
Moxi is a "friendly" hospital robot from Texas-based Diligent Robotics. The wheel-based bot aims to free nurses from routine tasks so they can spend more time with patients. Trials at several medical facilities begin this week, giving its creators their first glimpse of Moxi in a real-world environment.
The BrambleBee robot promises to help honeybees pollinate flowers
Honeybee populations are declining at a terrifying rate. BrambleBee, a new pollination robot developed by researchers at West Virginia University, may one day be able to help carry on their crucial job. Here's how it works, and how its creators imagine its future.
Robots can peer pressure kids, but don’t think for a second that we’re immune
In a recent experiment, researchers from Germany and the U.K. demonstrated how kids can succumb to peer pressure from robots, even when this means denying facts which are patently obvious. But don't think for a second that grown adults are immune to similar effects. Here's why.