More than 170 teams came out for this year’s RoboCup, which took place in Heifi, China. The event included a variety of challenges, including a robot rescue contest and soccer competitions for robots of various sizes. Highlights included a big win for the Carnegie Mellon University …

Put your project in motion with V-Rollers. These carefully crafted parts allow you to smoothly move a tube through an Actobotics channel. The V-Rollers come in three varieties: aluminum screw-set, Delrin with bearings, and the press-fit Delrin. The contoured shape of the V-rollers allows them to …

Adding a pair of brushed DC motors to a Raspberry Pi B+, A+, or Pi 2 is easy with this add-on board from Pololu. The board comes fully assembled, so all you need to do is connect it to a Pi as a HAT (Hardware Attached …

John Leonard’s group in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering specializes in SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, the technique whereby mobile autonomous robots map their environments and determine their locations. Last week, at the Robotics Science and Systems conference, members of Leonard’s group presented a …

Virginia Tech scientists are working on a robotic system that may one day be controlled by living bacteria. Currently, the researchers are using a mathematical model based on the behavior of bacteria to control the robot. “Basically we were trying to find out from the mathematical …

A new hotel opening in Japan has robot clerks at the front desk. Called the Henn-na Hotel, the novel business is located just outside of Nagasaki’s Huis Ten Bosch, an eco-friendly theme park modeled after the Netherlands. The hotel’s robots, which include a Nao, a humanoid, …

Interested in building a tracked robot that can handle tough terrian? Check out Sain Smart’s all metal tracked chassis. Weighing in at 768 grams, this chassis can carry up to 8Kg. The small but sturdy chassis measures 200 mm x 150 mm x 90 mm. The …

Turning your Spark into a robot is much easier with PhoBot. Made by Simon Monk, the board acts as a motorshield for the Spark Core or Particle Photon. Using a TB6612 dual H-bridge, the PhoBot can control one stepper motor or two brushed DC motors with …

A new article calls for the law to catch up with robotic technology. Ryan Calo, assistant professor in the University of Washington School of Law, says it’s time laws reflect the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence. “Technology has not stood still. The same private institutions …

This little infrared emitter and detector combo can be used a few different ways, when hooked up to an Arduino. Each of the IR emitters are housed in copper tubes, so the detector (located in the center of the board), should only pick up infrared light …

A new, 3D printed robot features an interesting body with a rigid core and a soft exterior. The rigid layers make for a better interface with the device’s electronics and power supply. The soft layers allow it to jump up to 2.5 feet high without sustaining …

Science Buddies’ Advanced Bristlebot Kit is great for kids who want to learn about breadboarding. Users can build the adorable bot in one of two ways: as a light seeking robot, or a solar powered robot. Then they can take it apart and build the other …

Researchers studying seahorse tails believe the novel design might be useful for building better robot grippers and medical devices. According to the team, a tail made of square, overlapping segments makes for better armor than a cylindrical tail. It’s also better at gripping and grasping. “Almost …