Tasker Smith, a technical instructor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, writes for Make Magazine about his work developing 3-D printed tools to create a custom leather press. “By marrying the versatility of digital design and fabrication with luxurious materials like leather,” writes Smith, “we can supercharge our process and generate customized artifacts worthy of handing down from generation to generation.”
Reporting for WBUR, Bruce Gellerman highlights how MIT Solve brings together innovators to tackle some of the world’s pressing challenges. "Putting your money where your social values are and making connections is what Solve is all about," observes Gellerman.
MIT researchers have developed a new technique to 3-D print magnetic robots that could one day be used as biomedical devices, reports Erik Olsen for Quartz. “The engineers have enabled the bots to roll, crawl, jump, and even snap together like a Venus flytrap to grasp a pill and then roll away with it,” explains Olsen.
Prof. John Bush speaks with Popular Science reporter Dyani Sabin about the physics behind bending a soccer ball like a World Cup player. “The physics is rather complicated honestly, but there are simple ways to explain it,” says Bush. “The reason it looks mysterious is because you can’t see what the surrounding fluid, in this case air, is doing.”
MIT researchers have updated their robotic cheetah to allow it to move without relying on external vision sensors, reports Lisa Spear for Newsweek. Spear explains that, “an algorithm helps the mechanical creature determine the best time to transition a leg between a swing and a step, by constantly calculating the probabilities of each legs' movement.”
Axios reporter Kaveh Waddell writes about the Cheetah 3 robot, which navigates its environment without cameras. Waddell explains that, “the researchers measure the force on each of the Cheetah's legs straight from the motors that control them, allowing it to move fast — at 3 meters per second, or 6.7 miles an hour — and jump up onto a table from a standstill.”
Kate Baggaley writes for NBC News that movement tracking technology developed by MIT researchers can be helpful for monitoring the elderly or sick. The system could be used to monitor an elderly relative and, “receive an instant alert if he or she falls,” or a doctor could use it to monitor the progression of a patient’s disease, explains Baggaley.
In an episode of BBC Click, host Spencer Kelly visits CSAIL to learn about developments in robotics and deep learning algorithms. Kelly notes that CSAIL is, “at the forefront of robotics, building machines in shapes and sizes that challenge our very idea of what a robot is.”
This CNN video profiles the new Cheetah 3 robot, which can avoid obstacles and climb stairs without using external visual sensors. CNN notes that the cheetah, “relies on ‘feel’ in place of cameras or sensors, using ‘blind locomotion.’”
MIT Media Lab researchers have created a musical instrument designed to be played in zero-gravity, writes Becky Ferreira for Motherboard. The instrument, dubbed the Telemetron, produces “musical tones that are appropriately spacey, with a similar timbre to how music sounds underwater,” explains Ferreira.
ABC News reporter Bopha Phorn writes about the latest iteration of a robotic cheetah developed by MIT researchers. Phorn explains that the researchers hope the cheetah will eventually be able to, “help some work that’s impossible for humans to do,” like search and rescue operations.
In this video, Reuters reporter Roselle Chen spotlights the Cheetah 3 robot, which utilizes two algorithms to run across rough terrain and maintain its balance without using cameras or sensors. Chen explains that the robot being able to navigate without cameras or sensors is like a human being able to walk around while its pitch black out.
Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, writes for Forbes about the difficulties faced by the aging population when it comes to living safely and independently. “Successful aging is less about eating right, daily exercise, or saving for retirement than having a robust circle of family and friends,” writes Coughlin.
MIT researchers have unveiled the latest iteration of their robotic cheetah that can navigate without the use of cameras or sensors and could be used for disaster response, reports Jordan Graham for The Boston Herald. “We’re mostly thinking about sending robots instead of humans where potential hazards like toxicity or radiation or dangers can be,” explains Prof. Sangbae Kim.
Writing for Popular Mechanics, Eric Limer highlights how the updated Cheetah 3 robot can navigate by feeling its way around its environment and can leap up onto tables. Limer explains that the robotic cheetah is, “able to rear back on its hind legs, leap into the air, and make a solid landing on a platform much taller than it is.”