Robotics

Writing for Forbes, Leo King reports that an autonomous robotic submarine developed by MIT startup Bluefin Robotics is being deployed in the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

The New Yorker’s Joshua Rothman reports on Professor Erik Brynjolfsson’s presentation about how smart machines will soon be able to replace human workers in many fields at a conference hosted by M.I.T.’s Initiative on the Digital Economy.

“Mechanical engineers from MIT have developed a digging robot that can burrow through soil while expending very little energy -- by mimicking the burrowing mechanism of a razor clam,” writes Katie Collins in Wired of the robotic clam developed by MIT researchers.

Hiawatha Bray of The Boston Globe reports on research underway at MIT to develop robots that will be able to take the place of human first responders in disaster relief operations.

TIME reporter Doug Aamoth writes about the MIT DARPA Robotics Challenge team’s work with the Atlas robot built by Boston Dynamics. Aamoth reports that the team has been developing code that allows the robot to move faster and be more autonomous.

Boston Globe reporter Michael Farrell writes about how researchers like Professor Seth Teller are reimagining the wheelchair. For the past five years, Teller has been working on designing a, “completely robotic chair that can navigate and learn about a user’s home environment.”

The Economist describes how the Atlantic Razor clam’s digging capabilities inspired Professor Amos Winter to develop a new robot that can dig 20 centimeters into the sea floor in just 20 seconds.

The Washington Post features the new soft robotic fish developed by MIT researchers. The fish echoes the movements of a real fish and is safe for humans to work with as it is made of soft materials, writes reporter Fred Barbash.

“A team of engineers at the university's Distributed Robotics Laboratory has developed a soft robot fish, which is not only capable of taking evasive manoeuvres at remarkable speed, but is also entirely self-contained and autonomous,” writes Wired’s Nicholas Tufnell of a new soft robotic fish developed at MIT.

Boston Magazine reporter Steve Annear spotlights the new soft robotic fish developed at MIT. “The life-like machine is so realistic—in both shape and feel—that it mimics the movements of a real underwater creature to a T. In a way, it even has built-in gills to help it survive,” writes Annear.

Amina Khan highlights the new soft robotic fish developed by MIT researchers in the Los Angeles Times. Khan explains that the design of the fish takes its cues from nature, while the specially designed motors allow the fish to move at high speeds and perform sharp turns.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s Tom Moroney reports on a new soft robotic fish developed by MIT researchers. The fish, he writes, “can shake its booty on computer command and escape from an anxious angler’s grip nearly as fast as the real thing.”

Los Angeles Times reporter Amina Khan writes that researchers from MIT have built, “a robotic clam that isn't edible but could be incredibly useful, because it easily outperforms other commercial digging devices.” The RoboClam was designed to mimic the digging technique of the Atlantic razor clam.

Paul Solman of the PBS NewsHour interviews MIT Professors Andrew McAfee and Eric Brynjolfsson on their new book The Second Machine Age. McAfee and Brynjolfsson argue that advances in automation are causing a radical industrial revolution.

Alex Beam of The Boston Globe interviews Kate Darling of the MIT Media Lab for this op-ed that examines the possible need for legal rights for robots in the future.