CNBC reporter Robert Ferris writes about how MIT researchers have developed a soft robotic hand that can identify and safely grasp delicate objects. Ferris explains that the researchers designed a “soft silicone ‘hand’ with embedded sensors that they can train to recognize different things.”
MIT CSAIL researchers have developed a silicon gripper that allows robots to grasp a wide variety of items, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. Subbaraman explains that the hand expands “to accommodate a shape, and grasps radially – surrounding an object instead of picking it up with pincers.”
Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee write for BBC News about how advances in automation and robotics can aid in the creation of new and better jobs for humans. They write that the answer “is not to slow the pace of technological progress, but to speed up our institutions so that entrepreneurs, managers and workers alike can thrive.”
In this video, Ben Gruber reports for Reuters on an MIT robot that is controlled by an operator wearing an exoskeleton. Prof. Sangbae Kim explains that his motivation was to develop “the best robot for disasters where we can actually use robots instead of risking human life.”
Richard Waters of The Financial Times reports that Toyota is funding new research centers at MIT and Stanford to research technologies that could enable computer-assisted driving. Waters explains that the goal behind the new centers is to give “drivers the choice one day of handing over full control to the AI ‘brains’ in their vehicles.”
In an effort to spur breakthroughs in autonomous driving technology, Toyota is funding new research centers at MIT and Stanford, the Associated Press reports. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that MIT researchers will be working on developing technology that would make it possible to build a car, “that is never responsible for a collision.”
Toyota has announced that it is funding new research centers at MIT and at Stanford dedicated to developing “intelligent” cars, reports John Markoff for The New York Times. “We see this as basic computer science, A.I. and robotics that will make a difference in transportation,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus.
A new center at MIT, a collaborative effort with Toyota, will be focused on broadening artificial intelligence technologies for cars, writes Eric Adams for Popular Science. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that the MIT center will dedicated to “helping reduce traffic casualties, and potentially even helping us develop a vehicle incapable of getting into a collision.”
Toyota is partnering with MIT and Stanford to research autonomous-vehicle technology, reports Marco della Cava for USA Today. “Toyota will use its MIT and Stanford investment dollars to develop on-board systems that will improve an automobile's ability to make smart driving decisions in split seconds when the driver is either unaware or too slow.”
MIT researchers have developed a robot called Hermes that is controlled by the motions of an exoskeleton-wearing human, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “What’s unique about Hermes is that Ramos is able to sense the robot’s balance through the harness,” writes Subbaraman.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston reports on how MIT researchers have developed a fleet of self-driving golf carts. “The group road-tested a fleet of self-driving golf carts at a park in Singapore over six days,” writes Subbaraman.
Kelsey Atherton reports for Popular Science that MIT researcher have developed and tested a self-driving golf cart in a public garden in Singapore. Atherton writes that one potential use for the self-driving golf carts is a shared vehicle system where the carts would “drive people to their destination, and then either return or seek new riders.”
Prof. Hugh Herr speaks about his work developing bionic limbs on Popular Science’s Futuropolis podcast. When asked about what sort of capabilities bionics may be able to give humans in the future, Herr explains his view that, “If something is possible given physical law, given the laws of nature, then I think ultimately humans will explore it.”
Kate Darling of the MIT Media Lab speaks with Wired reporter Katie Collins about what the destruction of a hitchhiking robot says about how people relate to robots. "Can we change people's empathy with robots,” says Darling. This is "at the core of what I view as ethics. I don't think robot ethics is about robots, it is about humans."
Los Angeles Times reporter Jenn Harris writes that MIT researchers have developed a system that allows teams of robots to deliver items. Harris explains that the researchers hope their technique could be used to allow robots to aid in situations like “getting supplies and medicine across a battlefield in a war-torn country.”