Carl Franzen reports for Popular Science that the researchers behind MIT’s robotic cheetah have developed new algorithms that allow the robot to detect and jump over obstacles. “Now that the Cheetah 2 is capable of trotting, galloping, and jumping, it might be time to crown a new king of the concrete jungle,” writes Franzen.
The robotic cheetah developed by MIT researchers is now capable of jumping over obstacles without human assistance, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “As the robot approaches and detects a hurdle, algorithms plan its jumping trajectory unaided by its minders, each adjusting for the speed and position of the robot and the height of the hurdle,” Subbaraman explains.
According to The Economist, a new algorithm created by EECS graduate student YiChang Shih and his colleagues can remove the reflections that often appear in photos taken through glass. As the team describes in their paper, their software “can indeed separate the desired image from the reflected one.”
Jordan Graham writes for The Boston Herald about a system created by Prof. Brian Williams that allows unpiloted underwater vehicles to make decisions without human intervention. Williams explains that the system was developed so that an underwater robot would not need low-level commands, “you just give it your goals.”
Brooks Hays of UPI writes that Prof. Brian Williams has developed a new system that allows autonomous underwater vehicles to operate independently. Robots using the new system “are able to navigate underwater expanses and execute research tasks on their own. Researchers simply dictate high-level goals, and the submersible calculates the most efficient path forward."
MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
In an article for The Huffington Post about teaching kids computer programming, Joni Blecher highlights the robotic garden developed by researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and CSAIL. The garden has “over 100 flowers that can be controlled via a Bluetooth-enabled device.”
In a TED talk, Prof. Kevin Slavin speaks about the potential dangers surrounding the growing influence of computer algorithms in finance, and the physical environment. “We’ve lost the sense of what’s actually happening in this world that we’ve made,” says Slavin.
Spencer Kelly of BBC News visits the MIT Distributed Robotics Lab to see how researchers have developed software that allows robots to build Ikea furniture. Kelly explains that the goal of the research is to “work towards robots that can work together collaboratively to build complex structures.”
Chris Neiger of BBC News reports on software being developed by Professor Brian Williams aimed at helping drivers arrive at their destinations on time. “The lab’s planning algorithms would give motorists an initial travel plan, which would adapt to externalities along the way,” writes Neiger.
Sarah Hedgecock writes for Forbes about how researchers have made major advances in mapping the human epigenome. Prof. Manolis Kellis explains that the new findings allow researchers to “ go from a static picture of the genome, which is effectively the book of life, to a dynamic picture of a genome.”
A team of researchers has published a map of the human epigenome, which could be useful in better understanding how to treat disease, writes Amanda Schupak for CBS News. Prof. Manolis Kellis explains that the findings provide “a reference for studying the molecular basis of human disease, by revealing the control regions that harbor genetic variants associated with different disorders."
MIT researchers have developed a garden filled with origami robots, LED flowers that can bloom on command and mechanical insects, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. The garden was developed in an effort to make programming more accessible to children.
Marcus Woo writes for Wired about how researchers have published a number of articles providing new information on the human epigenome, which controls which genes get switched on or off. “It is giving us a view of the living, breathing genome in motion, as opposed to a static picture of DNA,” explains Prof. Manolis Kellis.
For the first time, researchers have mapped the epigenome, identifying the switches that can turn individual genes on or off, reports Sharon Beagley for Reuters. Says Prof. Manolis Kellis of the need to understand the epigenome, "The only way you can deliver on the promise of precision medicine is by including the epigenome.”