DARPA

Engineers Mix and Match Materials to Make New Stretchy Electronics

At the heart of any electronic device is a cold, hard computer chip, covered in a miniature city of transistors and other semiconducting elements. Because computer chips are rigid, the electronic devices that they power, such as our smartphones, laptops, watches, and televisions, are similarly inflexible. Now a process developed by engineers may be the key to manufacturing flexible electronics with multiple functionalities in a cost-effective way.

Printing Objects That Can Incorporate Living Organisms

A method for printing 3D objects that can control living organisms in predictable ways has been developed. The technique may lead to 3D printing of biomedical tools, such as customized braces, that incorporate living cells to produce therapeutic compunds such as painkillers or topical treatments, the researchers say.

Deep Learning Enables Real-Time Imaging Around Corners

Researchers have harnessed the power of a type of artificial intelligence known as deep learning to create a new laser-based system that can image around corners in real time.

The First Living Robots

A book is made of wood. But it is not a tree. The dead cells have been repurposed to serve another need. Now a team of scientists has repurposed living cells—scraped from frog embryos—and assembled them into entirely new life-forms. These millimeter-wide "xenobots" can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient)—and heal themselves after being cut.

BNNT

BNNT, LLC make high quality high aspect ration boron nitride nanotubes. IDTechEx spoke with Tom Henneberg (CEO).

Vecna Technologies

Vecna Technologies is a robotics company based in Boston that has been around since 1999.

Exosuit shows potential for wearable robots

Researchers have previously developed robotic devices for rehabilitation and other areas of life that can either assist walking or running, but no untethered portable device could efficiently do both.

For climbing robots, the sky's the limit

Robots can drive on the plains and craters of Mars, but what if we could explore cliffs, polar caps and other hard-to-reach places on the Red Planet and beyond?

New AI programming language goes beyond deep learning

General-purpose language works for computer vision, robotics, statistics, and more.

Wearable system to sense, stimulate brain at unprecedented resolution

A noninvasive neural interface that can be used as a wearable device. This neural interface will be capable of both recording and stimulating the brain's dynamic activity with high temporal and spatial resolution.

Hummingbird robot uses AI to soon go where drones can't

Researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various techniques the bird uses naturally every day.

Air Force partnership advancing wearable sensor technology

Imagine being able to monitor your health quickly, simply, painlessly, and continuously, without complicated equipment or a doctor visit. For athletes or people with health conditions, an immediate physical "status update" would be a great convenience. For the warfighter in the field, it could be the crucial element of a successful mission.

Robotics research may help Parkinson's patients

For years, Israeli neurologist Tamar Flash has had a fascination with the octopus, and the way the invertebrate's eight arms propel it effortlessly through the water. She's convinced this has major implications for diagnosing and treating Parkinson's disease — and possible other disorders as well.

Route to flexible electronics made from exotic materials

Engineers have developed a technique to fabricate ultrathin semiconducting films made from a host of exotic materials other than silicon. To demonstrate their technique, the researchers fabricated flexible films made from gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, and lithium fluoride — materials that exhibit better performance than silicon but until now have been prohibitively expensive to produce in functional devices.

Neuromodulation technology to treat Diabetes

Could non-invasive devices replace drugs and regular insulin injections in the future treatment of diabetes? This is a central question a team of scientists are exploring as part of a research project worth up to $2.9 million.

Personalized soft exosuit breaks new ground

Fully wearable soft exosuit with automatic tuning helps users save energy and walk outside over difficult terrain.

Robots and drones making their own decisions? That's the goal

What if a parent could feel safe allowing a drone to walk their child to the bus stop? Robots working without human intervention? That might occur sooner than you think with a new avenue of artificial intelligence.

Soft multifunctional robots get really small

Robots could be safely deployed in difficult-to-access environments, such as in delicate surgical procedures in the human body.

Microrobotics for disaster recovery and high-risk environments

Partnering rescue personnel with robots to evaluate high-risk scenarios and environments can help increase the likelihood of successful search and recovery efforts, or other critical tasks while minimizing the threat to human teams.

Ecovative

Ecovative use mushrooms to provide sustainable alternatives to plastics and polystyrene foams for packaging, building materials and other applications.