Robots
Daniela Rus named CSAIL director
May 22, 2012
EECS professor to become new leader of MIT’s largest interdepartmental laboratory.
Whirr, click, hum: Robots go at it in 2.007 finale
May 11, 2012
Competition concludes mechanical design class, unleashing a wide variety of spinning, pumping and striking robots.
Woodie Flowers, a pioneer of hands-on engineering education
May 7, 2012
Flowers and his former student, David Wallace, have created a fun, teamwork-based approach to learning the art of mechanical design.
Also labeled: Alumni/ae, Education, teaching, academics, Emeritus, Faculty, Mechanical engineering, Students
Robots that reveal the inner workings of brain cells
May 7, 2012
New method offers automated way to record electrical activity inside neurons in the living brain.
Also labeled: Brain and cognitive sciences, Collaboration, McGovern Institute, Media Lab, Neuroscience, Research
The robot revolution is just beginning
April 24, 2012
Rodney Brooks outlines his vision of the future to student entrepreneurs.
All in a day’s work: Design and print your own robot
April 3, 2012
MIT project, funded with $10 million NSF grant, could transform robotic design and production
Self-sculpting sand
April 2, 2012
New algorithms could enable heaps of ‘smart sand’ that can assume any shape, allowing spontaneous formation of new tools or duplication of broken mechanical parts.
Guiding robot planes with hand gestures
March 14, 2012
MIT researchers are developing a system that would allow aircraft-carrier crews to direct autonomous planes using ordinary hand gestures.
Sometimes the quickest path is not a straight line
March 8, 2012
New methods and software developed at MIT can predict optimal paths for automated underwater vehicles.
New system allows robots to continuously map their environment
February 16, 2012
Algorithm to build 3-D maps requires a low-cost camera, no human input.
Robots go head to head, 250 miles above Earth
January 25, 2012
Third annual Zero Robotics competition pits robots against each other on the International Space Station.
Also labeled: Aeronautical and astronautical engineering, Algorithms, Alumni/ae, Astronauts, Contests and academic competitions, Education, teaching, academics, NASA, Space, astronomy and planetary science, Special events and guest speakers, Students, Video, Volunteering, outreach, public service, International Space Station
Speed limit for birds
January 20, 2012
MIT researchers find critical speed above which birds — and drones — are sure to crash.
Robots in reality
November 28, 2011
Nicholas Roy designs robots for real-world challenges.
CSAIL robots take center stage
November 14, 2011
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Principal Investigator Daniela Rus collaborated with modern dance company Pilobolus this past year to bring flying robots to the stage.
Helping robots hold on
November 10, 2011
MIT researchers design a ‘controllable adhesion system’ for underwater robots.
Navigating blindfolded
November 8, 2011
Advanced mathematical techniques enable AUVs to survey large, complex and cluttered seascapes.
Using a phone to fly a drone
November 8, 2011
Pilotless planes at MIT controlled via iPhones in Seattle.
Smarter robot arms
September 21, 2011
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
July 14, 2011
New multi-institution center will work on robotic interaction with nervous system
A competition full of hacks
May 9, 2011
Annual 2.007 finale pits robots against MIT history.
Speeding swarms of sensor robots
May 3, 2011
A new algorithm ensures that robotic environmental sensors will be able to focus on areas of interest without giving other areas short shrift.
iRobot to the rescue
March 28, 2011
CSAIL spinoff sends robotic aid to Japan
Explained: Ad hoc networks
March 10, 2011
Decentralized wireless networks could have applications in distributed sensing and robotics and maybe even personal communications.
Going head to head
February 9, 2011
Mechanical-engineering competition set the stage for a variety of competitive classes and events at MIT and elsewhere.
MIT Sea Grant’s Sea Perch being tested at French university
May 18, 2010
Undergraduate course, created in collaboration with Total Corporation, will hold presentations on May 28.
Also labeled: Collaboration, Sea Grant
Slideshow: Mini robotic muscles
April 6, 2010
Shape-memory alloys yield mechanical devices that produce more torque but weigh much less than comparably sized electric motors.
Also labeled: Actuators, Shape memory
Nonlinear thinker
January 29, 2010
With techniques for translating complicated equations into ‘sums of squares,’ Pablo Parrilo helps make sense of previously insoluble problems.
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