Smarter robot arms
A combination of two algorithms developed at MIT allows autonomous robots to execute tasks much more efficiently — and move more predictably.
MIT part of $18.5 million effort to create mind-machine interface
New multi-institution center will work on robotic interaction with nervous system
Honing household helpers
MIT computer scientists work toward improving robots’ ability to plan and perform complex actions, domestically and elsewhere.
Speeding swarms of sensor robots
A new algorithm ensures that robotic environmental sensors will be able to focus on areas of interest without giving other areas short shrift.
Explained: Ad hoc networks
Decentralized wireless networks could have applications in distributed sensing and robotics and maybe even personal communications.
Going head to head
Mechanical-engineering competition set the stage for a variety of competitive classes and events at MIT and elsewhere.
When the playroom is the computer
A block-shaped robot that seems to roll onto a computer screen is part of an educational-media system that gets kids out of their chairs.
Shape-shifting robots
Self-folding sheets of a plastic-like material point the way to robots that can assume any conceivable 3-D structure.
MIT Sea Grant’s Sea Perch being tested at French university
Undergraduate course, created in collaboration with Total Corporation, will hold presentations on May 28.
Slideshow: Mini robotic muscles
Shape-memory alloys yield mechanical devices that produce more torque but weigh much less than comparably sized electric motors.
Nonlinear thinker
With techniques for translating complicated equations into ‘sums of squares,’ Pablo Parrilo helps make sense of previously insoluble problems.
Fish and chips
New robots mimic fish's swimming and could explore areas where traditional underwater autonomous vehicles can't currently go.