Have you ever rubbed a balloon in your hair to make it stick to the wall? This electrostatic stickiness called electroadhesion may change robotics forever. EPFL scientists have invented a new soft gripper that uses electroadhesion: flexible electrode flaps that act like a thumb-index duo. It …

The latest kit by LittleBits — Gizmos and Gadgets — is perfect for budding inventors. It comes with everything you need to complete 12 projects, including a bubble blower, wireless doorbell, rotating light, and a two-wheeled, remote-controlled robot. Instructions for hundreds of other projects that make …

If you’re looking for a reliable, brainy, research robot, consider the Autonomous Deep Learning Robot. This bot is ideal for driving around your lab, with 3D vision. It also has a mic and speakers that are perfect for doing speech recognition, text-to-speech or natural language applications. …

During a 2014 talk on his exploration of deep-sea coral reefs, Baruch College marine biologist David Gruber showed a video of clunky robotic hands collecting fragile specimens of coral and sponges from the ocean floor. Harvard engineer and roboticist Robert J. Wood was in the audience …

The Georgia Institute of Technology is building a new lab that will allow roboticists from around the country to conduct experiments remotely. Researchers from other universities, as well as middle and high school students, will schedule experiments, upload their own programming code, watch the robots in …

Researchers are now able to control individual microrobots, using something likened to mini force fields. Until now it was only possible to control groups of microbots to move generally in unison, said David Cappelleri, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. “The reason we …

Patients who have lost hand function due to injury or nerve-related conditions — such as stroke and muscular dystrophy — now have a chance of restoring their hand movement using a new, lightweight rehabilitation device, called EsoGlove. Made of soft materials, this novel device is an …

If you’re looking for a handsome chassis for your robot that’s small, but has a little extra space up top, consider Adafruit’s Mini Robot Rover Chassis with a top metal plate. The plate adds a bit more storage that could be used in a myriad of ways. …

A robot’s role in a shared task could be continuously adjusted during the activity, thanks to a new adaptive robot control system that can sense whether a human operator wants to lead or follow. Developed by researchers at Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the …

Could your home use a little more monitoring? Check out Mother: a robot designed to keep tabs on your home life, that’s making a stir at CES 2016. Weighing only 1 lb and standing just 6.3 inches tall, Mother seems portable, but really isn’t. She needs to …

Make what you want, when you want with the Makerarm. This desktop fabrication system consists of a robotic arm that has swappable attachments, for 3D printing, laser engraving, cutting, writing, plotting, and electronics assembly. The tool heads can be switched out in seconds. While small enough to mount …

Purdue University Professor of Mechanical Engineering Karthik Ramani has developed a new robot toy for kids called the HandiMate robot toolkit Unlike conventional kits that require kids to build a robot according to its manual, HandiMate—designed for ages 10 to 15—can be created with any material …

This little three-wheeled robot is designed to be a household companion, security system, entertainment center, and personal assistant. Known as BUDDY, the robot stands just 22-inches tall and weighs 5 kg. He features an 8-inch smart tablet with built in Wifi and bluetooth that can display an …