NEWSWORTHY
SoftBank-owned Boston Dynamics prepares to unleash its dog-like robot
A robotics company owned by SoftBank Corp. and known for its widely shared videos of nimble, legged robots opening doors or walking through rough terrain is preparing to sell some after more than a quarter century of research. U.S.-based Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said ...
Italian researchers on Thursday unveiled a new robotic hand they say allows users to grip objects more naturally and features a design that will lower the price significantly. The Hennes robotic hand has a simpler mechanical design compared with other such myoelectric prosthetics — which ...
Artificial intelligence has a new challenge: whether and how to alert people who may not know they are talking to a robot. Tuesday, Google showed off a computer assistant that makes convincingly human-sounding phone calls, at least in its prerecorded demonstration. But the real people ...
In Japan, Aibo robots get their own funeral
The robot dogs lined up in their dozens last Thursday in Chiba Prefecture were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honored with their own traditional "funeral." In some respects, it was a funeral like any other in Japan, with incense smoke ...
A SoftBank Group Corp. subsidiary and two other firms have developed a prototype of a two-seat humanoid robot that can transform into a car for use in amusement parks, the companies said Thursday. Invoking the heroes from the "Transformers" movies, the experimental J-deite Ride can ...
Japanese robotics team develops deep-sea robot that can grab sample creatures on its own
A robotics group involving researchers from the University of Tokyo and Kyushu Institute of Technology has developed an autonomous maritime robot that can find samples of seafloor life and collect them. Seafloor life is usually collected by manned submersibles that require large mother ships because ...
Amazon reportedly working on another big bet: home robots
Ten years ago, Amazon introduced the Kindle and established the appeal of reading on a digital device. Four years ago, Jeff Bezos and company rolled out the Echo, prompting millions of people to start talking to a computer. Now Amazon.com Inc. is working on another ...
Sony and U.S. university working on home-use food preparation robot
Sony Corp. and Carnegie Mellon University aim to jointly develop a home-use robot for food preparation that utilizes artificial intelligence technology. Sony and the U.S. school have concluded an agreement to collaborate on AI and robotics research. Their initial research and development efforts will focus ...
Japanese firms see big future for small-scale industrial robots
A two-armed robot in a Chiba factory carefully stacks rice balls in a box, which a worker carries off for shipment to convenience stores. At another food-packaging plant, a robot shakes pepper and powdered cheese over pasta that a person has just arranged in ...
Construction robots in Japan weld, bolt and lift to tackle worker shortage
Robots that can weld, lift and bolt are being developed to help bridge labor shortages at domestic construction sites, though their use will be limited to night shifts when no human workers will be nearby due to safety and regulatory concerns. Major construction firm Shimizu ...
Doubts cloud Minamisoma robotics project as Fukushima attempts to revive tsunami-hit city
A coastal area in Fukushima Prefecture's Minamisoma, which seven years ago was overtaken by tsunami debris, is set to be resurrected as a major robotics research site. The Fukushima Robot Test Field, a 50-hectare site being built by the Fukushima Prefectural Government, is meant to ...
