Robot News from RoboDaily.com
December 26, 2016
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ROBO SPACE
Mimicking biological movements with soft robots



Boston MA (SPX) Dec 22, 2016
Designing a soft robot to move organically - to bend like a finger or twist like a wrist - has always been a process of trial and error. Now, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a method to automatically design soft actuators based on the desired movement. "Rather than designing these actuators empirically, we wanted a tool where you could plug in a motion and it would te ... read more

ROCKET SCIENCE
Preparing to Plug Into NASA SLS Fuel Tank
A team prepares a robot - the yellow machine attached to the liquid hydrogen tank for the Space Launch System rocket - for friction plug welding at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. F ... more
ROBO SPACE
A hardware-based approach for real world collaborative multi-robots
Technological revolution means robots no longer are the song of the future. The Governor of the Bank of England predicts today that up to half of British workforce face redundancy in the imminent 's ... more
ROBO SPACE
Driverless platoons
As driverless cars merge into our transportation system in the coming years, some researchers believe autonomous vehicles may save fuel by trailing each other in large platoons. Like birds and fight ... more
ROBO SPACE
Marriage and more with robots: science fiction or new reality?
Sex with robots is "just around the corner", an expert told a global conference in London this week featuring interactive sex toys and discussions on the ethics of relationships with humanoids. ... more
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ROBO SPACE
NIST device for detecting subatomic-scale motion may aid robotics, homeland security
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new device that measures the motion of super-tiny particles traversing distances almost unimaginably small - ... more
ROBO SPACE
Zuckerberg builds software butler for his home
Mark Zuckerberg's artificial intelligence-imbued software "butler" - named Jarvis - is now in service, and even plays with his family, the Facebook chief said Monday. ... more
MARSDAILY
Bremen robot team successfully simulates Mars mission in Utah
A major challenge in the exploration of Mars by robots is its uneven surface, which is marked by trenches and craters. Whether the systems can withstand the rough terrain on the Red Planet, they hav ... more
ROBO SPACE
Research shows people can control a robotic arm with only their minds
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have made a major breakthrough that allows people to control a robotic arm using only their minds. The research has the potential to help millions of peopl ... more
ROBO SPACE
Artificial intelligence creeps into daily life
Mark Zuckerberg envisions a software system inspired by the "Iron Man" character Jarvis as a virtual butler managing his household. ... more


A skillful rescue robot with remote-control function

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
A new light on stellar death
Back in 2015 when astronomers discovered an intense flare in a distant galaxy, they considered it the brightest supernova ever observed. Now, UC Santa Barbara astrophysicists and a group of internat ... more
ROBO SPACE
Internal sensors help soft robot hand feel the world like a human
Most robots rely on external sensors to feel the outside world. To give robots a more human-like sense of touch, researchers at Cornell ditched those bulky and unnatural sensors for an internal system. ... more


Ford studies using drones to guide self-driving cars
Ford Motor Co. is studying a system to use drones to help guide self-driving vehicles, including on off-road adventures, company officials said. Drones launched from an autonomous vehicle would help guide it by mapping the surrounding area beyond what the car's sensors can detect. Vehicle passengers can control the drone using the car's infotainment or navigation system. "At some point, ... more
QinetiQ acquires Meggitt Target Systems

General Atomics to perform Reaper, Predator support services

Britain, France continue drone development project

Ultra-small nanocavity advances technology for secure quantum-based data encryption
Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network. Quantum encryption techniques, which are seen as likely to be central to future ... more
Meet a 'Spacecraft Dressmaker'

Ultra-high-speed optical fiber sensor enables detection of structural damage in real time

NASA Satellite Servicing Office Becomes a Projects Division

An invisible electrode
Transparent conductors are one of the key elements of today's electronic and optoelectronic devices such as displays, light emitting diodes, photovoltaic cells, smart phones, etc. Most of the current technology is based on the use of the semiconductor Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) as a transparent conducting material. However, even though ITO presents several exceptional properties, such as a large tra ... more
World's smallest radio receiver has building blocks the size of 2 atoms

Fundamental solid state phenomenon unraveled

Movable microplatform floats on a sea of droplets

Researchers model the way into a nuclear future
Physicists from MIPT and the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences described the mobility of line defects, or dislocations, in uranium dioxide. This will enable future predictions of nuclear fuel behavior under operating conditions. The research findings were published in the International Journal of Plasticity. Nuclear fuel has an immense potential, as i ... more
Report finds additional radioactive materials in gas-well drill cuttings

Chemistry research breakthrough that could improve nuclear waste recycling technologies

Japan pulls plug on troubled fast breeder reactor



US military formally ends anti-IS operation in Libya's Sirte
The US military has officially ended operations in a former Islamic State bastion in Libya, officials announced Tuesday. The Pentagon had launched Operation Odyssey Lightning to help local forces push the jihadists from the coastal city of Sirte on August 1. "In partnership with the Libyan Government of National Accord, the operation succeeded in its core objective of enabling GNA-aligne ... more
2016, the year the IS 'caliphate' buckled

Jihadists' return from frontline a major threat, US experts warn

Drone strike kills IS figures in Syria, some with Paris attack ties

MIT Energy Initiative report provides guidance for evolving electric power sector
Distributed energy resources - relatively small-scale power technologies such as solar, wind, energy storage, and power electronics and control devices - are being deployed rapidly in the global shift toward a low-carbon energy future. To ensure that both distributed and centralized energy resources are integrated efficiently, however, electric power systems in the U.S., Europe, and other ... more
Toward energy solutions for northern regions

Energy-hungry Asia slowing down, lender says

US push to low-carbon future 'unstoppable': Biden



Scientists build bacteria-powered battery on single sheet of paper
Instead of ordering batteries by the pack, we might get them by the ream in the future. Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have created a bacteria-powered battery on a single sheet of paper that can power disposable electronics. The manufacturing technique reduces fabrication time and cost, and the design could revolutionize the use of bio-batteries as a power sou ... more
Bright future for energy devices

New approach captures the energy of slow motion

Fuel cells with PFIA-membranes

Chinese missile giant seeks 20% of a satellite market
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the largest missile maker in the country, is taking aim at 20 percent or more of the small-satellite launch contracts in the world by 2020, company executives said. "We estimate that from 2017 to 2020, we will send aloft at least 10 solid-fuel carrier rockets each year, to send about 50 small satellites into orbit," said Guo Yong, president of the ... more
China-made satellites in high demand

Space exploration plans unveiled

China launches 4th data relay satellite



'Passengers' and the real-life science of deep space travel
From "Aliens" to "Interstellar," Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact. The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicat ... more
NASA Readies for Major Orion Milestones in 2017

India achieves advances multiple space systems in 2016

Spacewalk for Thomas Pesquet at ISS

Small Troughs Growing on Mars May Become 'Spiders'
Erosion-carved troughs that grow and branch during multiple Martian years may be infant versions of larger features known as Martian "spiders," which are radially patterned channels found only in the south polar region of Mars. Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) report the first detection of cumulative growth, from one Martian spring to another, of channels resultin ... more
All eyes on Trump over Mars

Opportunity performs several drives to ancient gully

Full go-ahead for building ExoMars 2020



New round of wind tunnel tests underway for more bigger SLS version
As engines are fired, software written and hardware welded to prepare for the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), engineers are already running tests in supersonic wind tunnels to develop the next, more powerful version of the world's most advanced launch vehicle capable of carrying humans to deep space destinations. "Aeronautics leads the way in the design of a new rocket," ... more
United Launch Alliance launches EchoStar XIX satellite

Preparing to Plug Into NASA SLS Fuel Tank

Ultra-Cold Storage - Liquid Hydrogen may be Fuel of the Future

China's smoggiest city closes schools amid public anger
China's smoggiest city closed schools Wednesday as much of the country suffered its sixth day under an oppressive haze, sparking public anger about the slow response to the threat to children's health. Since Friday a choking miasma has covered a large swathe of northeastern China, leaving more than 460 million gasping for breath. Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province, was one of mo ... more
RIT researchers estimate 10,000 metric tons of plastic enter Great Lakes every year

Bacteria control levels of dangerous pollutant in seabirds

Planes grounded as smog chokes China for fifth day



Better road planning could boost food production while protect forests
Conservation scientists have used layers of data on biodiversity, climate, transport and crop yields to construct a colour-coded mapping system that shows where new road-building projects should go to be most beneficial for food production at the same time as being least destructive to the environment. The hope is that this "trade-off" strategy might guide governments, investors and develo ... more
VW reaches $1 bn compensation deal in 3.0-liter diesel case

China fines GM unit $29 million for 'price-fixing'

Uber puts brakes on self-driving cars in California

Going green with nanotechnology
Nanotechnology offers many chances to benefit the environment and health. It can be applied to save raw materials and energy, develop enhanced solar cells and more efficient rechargeable batteries and replace harmful substances with eco-compatible solutions. "Nanotechnology is a seminal technology. The UMWELTnanoTECH project association has delivered excellent results. Even the smallest ac ... more
Nanocubes simplify printing and imaging in color and infrared

New aspect of atom mimicry for nanotechnology applications

ANU demonstrates 'ghost imaging' with atoms

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Ultra-small nanocavity advances technology for secure quantum-based data encryption
Researchers have developed a new type of light-enhancing optical cavity that is only 200 nanometers tall and 100 nanometers across. Their new nanoscale system represents a step toward brighter single-photon sources, which could help propel quantum-based encryption and a truly secure and future-proofed network. Quantum encryption techniques, which are seen as likely to be central to future ... more
Meet a 'Spacecraft Dressmaker'

Ultra-high-speed optical fiber sensor enables detection of structural damage in real time

NASA Satellite Servicing Office Becomes a Projects Division

Myanmar farmers reap rewards from 3D printing
Whizzing across a blue-lit platform with a whirr and a squeak, liquid plastic emanating from its chrome tip, the 3D printer seems a far cry from the muddy, crop-filled fields that fringe Yangon. But in an industrial park south of Myanmar's commercial hub, the advanced technology is now being used to design bespoke parts that are changing the lives of impoverished farmers. Myanmar's manuf ... more
China's giant cow farms leave neighbours up milk creek

Dust Bowl would obliterate modern crops

Iran culls birds after avian flu outbreak



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