In an article for The Washington Post about artificial intelligence, Joel Achenbach speaks with MIT researchers about the future of the field. Speaking about the current state of AI, Prof. Daniela Rus explains that “there are tasks that are very easy for humans — clearing your dinner table, loading the dishwasher, cleaning up your house — that are surprisingly difficult for machines.”
Chris Sweeney reports for Boston Magazine that Prof. Cynthia Breazeal’s lab is participating in a new National Institutes of Health program aimed at examining how social robots can improve health and wellness. “The NIH wants to see if Breazeal’s creations can help ‘inspire curiosity’ and teach ‘the importance of hard work and determination’ to school-aged children,” writes Sweeney.
Emily Reynolds reports for Wired that NASA has awarded an R5 “Valkyrie” humanoid robot to a team led by Prof. Russ Tedrake. Reynolds explains that the team “will develop algorithms to make the robot more dexterous” so that they could potentially take the place of humans during extreme space missions.
NASA has awarded two humanoid robots to research groups at MIT and Northeastern, reports Brian Mastroianni for CBS News. The robots “are seen as potential tools to aid astronauts in future Mars expeditions,” writes Mastroianni. “They could potentially assist or even replace humans in extreme environments.”
Olga Khvan reports for Boston Magazine that a team from MIT has been awarded a humanoid robot for research and development. “The R5—nicknamed Valkyrie—is a humanoid robot designed to assist during human missions to Mars by completing disaster-relief maneuvers,” writes Khvan.
A team led by Prof. Russ Tedrake has been awarded a humanoid robot from NASA to develop software for future space missions, reports Hiawatha Bray for BetaBoston. NASA is “interested in modifications that would let the machines assist human astronauts during long-duration space missions,” writes Bray.
MIT researchers have developed a drone that can recognize obstacles while flying at speeds of 30 miles per hour, writes Mary Beth Griggs for Popular Science. The drone creates a map of the world, “identifying obstacles, and mapping a path around them.”
In this video, FOX News reporter Douglas Kennedy speaks with MIT researchers about the robot they developed, called HERMES, that is controlled by a human operator and could aid rescuers in disaster situations. “We wanted to send a robot into a disaster situation so we don’t risk human life,” explains graduate student Albert Wang.
Writing for Popular Science, Mary Beth Griggs reports that researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed a robotic cube that can jump over rough terrain. The researchers hope that one day the cube "can be fitted with small cameras, making them excellent for exploring rough areas like disaster zones, or other tight spaces.”
Bret Stetka writes for The Atlantic about how MIT researchers have studied how harbor seals are able to use their whiskers to track prey. Prof. Michael Triantafyllou explains that his team’s findings could be used to develop new technologies that, for example, could “detect plumes underwater, such as in oil spills, or other plumes polluting the environment.”
Prof. Hugh Herr speaks with Breanna Draxler of Popular Science about the future of bionics. Herr explains that he is “intrigued by the possibility of embedding humanity—our ideas and our creativity—into designable bodies. The artificial limbs we create can be just as beautiful and expressive as our own bodies made of innate cells.”
Prof. David Mindell speaks with Moira Gunn of KQED’s Tech Nation about his book “Our Robots, Ourselves,” and the future of autonomy. “All software embeds human values in one way or another,” says Mindell. “When we think about autonomy and driving, what are those values that are going to be embedded in our software?”
In an excerpt from Prof. David Mindell’s new book published on Slate, Mindell argues that humans have a presence on Mars thanks to rovers that are exploring the planet and are controlled by human operators on Earth. “The rovers are more like programmable, mobile laboratories than scientists, physical more than cognitive surrogates,” writes Mindell.
Scientific American reporter Michael Lombardi writes about a new robotic hand developed by MIT researchers that allows the user to sense what the robotic hand feels. The goal of the hand is to allow “people to work in extreme locations, including chemical, thermal or nuclear environments.”
Graduate student Sampriti Bhattacharyya speaks with Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham about her startup Hydroswarm, which is developing teams of underwater drones to map the ocean. “There is so much potential out there. We had a space era. With all the subsea robotics, it could be a new era in ocean exploration,” says Bhattacharyya.