Robotics

Scientists increasingly use miniscule robots to solve a range of problems, from cancer treatment to water purification.

Scientists have created a double-sided adhesive that copies a gecko's ability to stick and unstick to surfaces even in wet conditions. They say their development could be useful in underwater robotics, sensors and other bionic devices.

Aerial dogfighting began more than a century ago in the skies over Europe with propeller-driven fighter aircraft carried aloft on wings of fabric and wood. An event held recently in southern California could mark the beginning of a new chapter in this form of aerial combat.

The IDTechEx Show! in Berlin, Germany on 10-11 May is Europe's most important event for those involved in technology scouting and product innovation, bringing together emerging technologies with global brands.

Researchers in Hong Kong have developed a novel surgical robotic system that provides tactile feedback and is capable of single-incision and natural orifice robotic surgery. The system minimizes surgical trauma and is safer than currently available robotic systems.

IDTechEx technology analyst Dr Richard Collins was in attendance of JEC World in Paris, the premier composite event with the hosts reporting record attendees of over 40,000 people and 1,300 exhibitors.

Researchers have developed new wearable sensors and robotics technology that could be used to accurately measure muscle stiffness during physical exams.

A scaled-down robotic version of the fastest animal in the world, with a view to replicating its movements. Relatively speaking, the robot moves using only about fifteen percent more energy than a real cheetah.

The non-profit, RSE: Robots in Service of the Environment, has announced the Guardian LF1, an affordable unmanned undersea robot designed to control the population of invasive lionfish in the Atlantic.

With robots dangling over the field, researchers will be able to get more frequent measurements and to avoid some laborious field work. Someday, they may be able to stay at their laptops miles away, in the air conditioning, scanning a steady stream of images and data sent back from the robots.

Hermes is launching an innovative testing programme for the use of self-driving delivery robots in London.

Honda has introduced the company's first robotic lawn mower for use in the United States, Miimo.

It's no small task to build a fully autonomous robot capable of mining raw materials from the surface of Mars.

Germany took a wrong course in vehicle powertrains initially resisting government support for electric vehicles, but many German industrial and commercial vehicle manufacturers are now going electric.

Researchers are developing a system to enable teams of robots to share information as they move around and, if necessary, get help in interpreting what they see, enabling them to conduct surveillance as a single entity with many eyes.

The drone market is changing. In this premium article, we will analyse the investment trends into drone start-ups, showing that the investment peaked in 2015. We will then consider changing market dynamics driven largely by the commoditization of the drone platform hardware. Next, we will consider the emerging application pipeline of drones before showing how the market is forecasted to change in the coming decade. We will then examine the use of drones in agriculture as a case study before identifying emerging new opportunities in drone software, services, and specialized hardware such as sensors.

IDTechEx Launchpad will showcase innovations from 18 start-up companies at the IDTechEx Show! held in Berlin, Germany on 10-11 May 2017 (www.IDTechEx.com/europe).

They call it Airborne Wind Energy (AWE). It started with kites flying higher than a conventional wind turbine to create electricity from the familiar figure of eight trajectory where winds are much stronger and more consistent than those tapped by conventional wind turbines on land or even offshore.

Telepresence robots — Internet-enabled, two-way-video-streaming automatons that have wheels for feet and a screen showing the child's face at the top of a vertical "body" — act as surrogates.

IDTechEx analyst Dr David Pugh attended the recent SAE world congress (WCX) in Detroit, Michigan. In this article he reports on how the automotive industry is embracing technology.