c-Research-Innovation

What can I do here? Learning new skills by imagining visual affordances

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How do humans become so skillful? Well, initially we are not, but from infancy, we discover and practice increasingly complex skills through self-supervised play. But this play is not random – the child development literature suggests that infants use their prior experience to conduct directed exploration of affordances like movability, suckability, graspability, and digestibility through …

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Fish fins are teaching us the secret to flexible robots and new shape-changing materials

bio-inspired, c-Research-Innovation, News / By

By Francois Barthelat Flying fish use their fins both to swim and glide through the air. Smithsonian Institution/Flickr The big idea Segmented hinges in the long, thin bones of fish fins are critical to the incredible mechanical properties of fins, and this design could inspire improved underwater propulsion systems, new robotic materials and even new …

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#IROS2020 Plenary and Keynote talks focus series #3: Anya Petrovskaya & I-Ming Chen

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In this new release of our series showcasing the plenary and keynote talks from the IEEE/RSJ IROS2020 (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) you’ll meet Dr. Anya Petrovskaya (Stanford University), talking about driverless vehicles and field robots, and Prof. I-Ming Chen (Nanyang Technological University), whose talk is about food handling robots. Dr. Anya Petrovskaya …

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We used peanuts and a climbing wall to learn how squirrels judge their leaps so successfully – and how their skills could inspire more nimble robots

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How do they stick their landings? Alex Turton via Getty Images Tree squirrels are the Olympic divers of the rodent world, leaping gracefully among branches and structures high above the ground. And as with human divers, a squirrel’s success in this competition requires both physical strength and mental adaptability. The Jacobs lab studies cognition in …

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#IROS2020 Plenary and Keynote talks focus series #2: Frank Dellaert & Ashish Deshpande

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Last Wednesday we started this series of posts showcasing the plenary and keynote talks from the IEEE/RSJ IROS2020 (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems). This is a great opportunity to stay up to date with the latest robotics & AI research from top roboticists in the world. This week we’re bringing you Prof. Frank …

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Sniffy Bug: a fully autonomous swarm of gas-seeking nano quadcopters in cluttered environments

bio-inspired, c-Research-Innovation, Flying, News, Swarming / By

Tiny drones are ideal candidates for fully autonomous jobs that are too dangerous or time-consuming for humans. A commonly shared dream by engineers and fire & rescue services, would be to have swarms of such drones help in search-and-rescue scenarios [1], for instance to localize gas leaks without endangering human lives. Tiny drones are ideal …

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ITRI introduces AI-based high density shuttle rack system

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ITRI’s new AI-Based High Density Shuttle Rack System employs AI and existing warehouse technologies | Image credit: ITRI The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan has introduced the AI-Based High Density Shuttle Rack System (SRS). This smart storage system, which operates without manpower in thousands of square meters of space, uses Artificial Intelligence to …

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The new IIT’s “Robot Teleoperativo” (teleoperation robot)

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The Robot Teleoperativo is a new robotics result achieved at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia and combining the rugged locomotion of HyQReal robot with dexterous and powerful manipulation assured by a new robotic arm, controlled by immersive VR visualization and haptic teleoperation. It represents a significant contribution to the state-of-the-art robotics dedicated to intervention on unstructured, …

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Slender robotic finger senses buried items

Articles, c-Research-Innovation, Sensing / By

MIT researchers developed a “Digger Finger” robot that digs through granular material, like sand and gravel, and senses the shapes of buried objects. The technology could aid in disarming buried bombs or inspecting underground cables. Image courtesy of the researchers. By Daniel Ackerman Over the years, robots have gotten quite good at identifying objects — …

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