Robotics news, features and articles

Robots are machines built to perform complex tasks that may be too difficult, unsafe or just too tedious for humans. Live Science takes you through the latest developments in robotics, from the strangest robots to biohybrids, and questions whether we're really ready for intelligent robots. Whatever your interest in automatons, androids and artificial intelligence, our expert team of writers and editors are here to provide you with the latest robotics news, features and articles.
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—Robots: Facts about machines that can walk, talk or do tasks that humans can't (or won't)
Latest about Robotics

Watch first-of-its-kind robot elephant go bowling
By Patrick Pester published
Researchers have unveiled a miniature robot elephant with special 3D-printed "tissues" that allow for more complex and natural movements. A video shows the elephant grasp a flower with its trunk and kick a bowling ball.

MIT's new AI can teach itself to control robots by watching the world through their eyes — it only needs a single camera
By Tristan Greene published
The new training method doesn't use sensors or onboard control tweaks, but a single camera that watches the robot's movements and uses visual data.

Meet Skydweller: A solar-powered drone that can fly for 90 days straight — it's wider and 160 times lighter than a Boeing 747
By Peter Ray Allison published
Skydweller is a solar-powered drone that can fly for up to three months without landing, with researchers hoping to one day achieve much longer flight times.

Scientists burned, poked and sliced their way through new robotic skin that can 'feel everything'
By Owen Hughes published
New, gelatin-based material could let robots feel everything from a light poke to a deep cut.

Intrepid baby-faced robot is the world's humanoid first to fly
By Alan Bradley published
New footage shows an expressionless iRonCub MK3 robot taking off using four thrusters — two where its arms should be and two in a jetpack on its back.

China pits rival humanoids against each other in world's first 'robot boxing tournament'
By Rory Bathgate published
Unitree's combat robots can punch and kick while keeping their balance, but they are controlled by humans — for now.

Robots run out of energy long before they run out of work to do — feeding them could change that
By James Pikul published
Even the best batteries fall far short of animal metabolism for energy storage. Fueling robots with 'food' could narrow the gap.

Amazon's new warehouse robot has a 'sense of touch' that could see it replace human workers
By Lisa D. Sparks published
Amazon's Vulcan, the first warehouse robot with touch sensitivity, has begun operations in the company's Spokane, Washington, and Hamburg, Germany, fulfillment centers.
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