A four-legged robotic system for playing soccer on various terrains
If you've ever played soccer with a robot, it's a familiar feeling. Sun glistens down on your face as the smell of grass permeates the air. You look around. A four-legged robot is hustling toward you,...
View ArticleRobotic hand can identify objects with just one grasp
Inspired by the human finger, MIT researchers have developed a robotic hand that uses high-resolution touch sensing to accurately identify an object after grasping it just one time.Many robotic hands...
View ArticleDrones navigate unseen environments with liquid neural networks
In the vast, expansive skies where birds once ruled supreme, a new crop of aviators is taking flight. These pioneers of the air are not living creatures, but rather a product of deliberate innovation:...
View ArticleMiniscule device could help preserve the battery life of tiny sensors
Scientists are striving to develop ever-smaller internet-of-things devices, like sensors tinier than a fingertip that could make nearly any object trackable. These diminutive sensors have miniscule...
View ArticleSpeedy robo-gripper reflexively organizes cluttered spaces
When manipulating an arcade claw, a player can plan all she wants. But once she presses the joystick button, it’s a game of wait-and-see. If the claw misses its target, she’ll have to start from...
View ArticleOpen-source platform simulates wildlife for soft robotics designers
Since the term “soft robotics” was adopted in 2008, engineers in the field have been building diverse representations of flexible machines useful in exploration, locomotion, rehabilitation, and even...
View ArticleFour researchers with MIT ties earn 2023 Schmidt Science Fellowships
Four researchers with ties to MIT have been named Schmidt Science Fellows this year. Lillian Chin ’17, SM ’19; Neil Dalvie PD ’22, PhD ’22; Suong Nguyen, and Yirui Zhang SM ’19, PhD ’23 are among the...
View Article2.007 Forever!
On Tuesday evening, fans of all ages came to MIT’s Johnson Athletics Center to cheer on their favorite competitors as they took the arena, two at a time, in head-to-head contests that called for feats...
View ArticleHelping robots handle fluids
Imagine you’re enjoying a picnic by a riverbank on a windy day. A gust of wind accidentally catches your paper napkin and lands on the water’s surface, quickly drifting away from you. You grab a nearby...
View ArticleBioinspired robotics class offers intriguing surprises
When MIT’s mini cheetah perfectly executed a backflip on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the audience screamed and applauded wildly. If this machine — which also pranced around the stage like...
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A step toward safe and reliable autopilots for flying
In the film “Top Gun: Maverick,”Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, is charged with training young pilots to complete a seemingly impossible mission — to fly their jets deep into a rocky canyon, staying so...
View ArticleDefining the public interest in new technologies
How are waves of disruptive technologies, such as more advanced versions of artificial intelligence systems, changing the way we work, live, and play? Are there pathways that academics, practitioners,...
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The chore of packing just got faster and easier
In 1611, Johannes Kepler — known for his laws of planetary motion — offered a solution to the question concerning the densest possible way to arrange equal-sized spheres. The famed astronomer took on...
View ArticleMagnetic robots walk, crawl, and swim
MIT scientists have developed tiny, soft-bodied robots that can be controlled with a weak magnet. The robots, formed from rubbery magnetic spirals, can be programmed to walk, crawl, swim — all in...
View Article3 Questions: Honing robot perception and mapping
Walking to a friend’s house or browsing the aisles of a grocery store might feel like simple tasks, but they in fact require sophisticated capabilities. That's because humans are able to effortlessly...
View ArticleAI helps household robots cut planning time in half
Your brand new household robot is delivered to your house, and you ask it to make you a cup of coffee. Although it knows some basic skills from previous practice in simulated kitchens, there are way...
View ArticleA faster way to teach a robot
Imagine purchasing a robot to perform household tasks. This robot was built and trained in a factory on a certain set of tasks and has never seen the items in your home. When you ask it to pick up a...
View ArticleNew quantum magnet unleashes electronics potential
Some of our most important everyday items, like computers, medical equipment, stereos, generators, and more, work because of magnets. We know what happens when computers become more powerful, but what...
View ArticleA simpler method for learning to control a robot
Researchers from MIT and Stanford University have devised a new machine-learning approach that could be used to control a robot, such as a drone or autonomous vehicle, more effectively and efficiently...
View ArticleMIT engineers use kirigami to make ultrastrong, lightweight structures
Cellular solids are materials composed of many cells that have been packed together, such as a honeycomb. The shape of those cells largely determines the material’s mechanical properties, including its...
View ArticleSMART launches research group to advance AI, automation, and the future of work
The Singapore MIT-Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, has launched a new interdisciplinary research group aimed at tackling key social and...
View ArticleAI helps robots manipulate objects with their whole bodies
Imagine you want to carry a large, heavy box up a flight of stairs. You might spread your fingers out and lift that box with both hands, then hold it on top of your forearms and balance it against your...
View ArticleMaking life friendlier with personal robots
“As a child, I wished for a robot that would explain others’ emotions to me” says Sharifa Alghowinem, a research scientist in the Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group (PRG). Growing up in Saudi Arabia,...
View ArticleA. Michael West: Advancing human-robot interactions in health care
An accomplished MIT student researcher in health care robotics, with many scholarship and fellowship awards to his name, A. Michael West is nonchalant about how he chose his path.“I kind of fell into...
View ArticleMechanical engineering with a twist: Pursuing a passion for robotics with...
A photo of students in colorful hardhats running across Killian Court is what first drew Sharmi Shah ’23 to the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), but a desire to make the world a better...
View Article2023-2024 Accenture Fellows advance technology at the crossroads of business...
The MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology has announced five new research fellows for 2023-24. Now in its third year, the initiative underscores the ways in which...
View ArticleAI copilot enhances human precision for safer aviation
Imagine you're in an airplane with two pilots, one human and one computer. Both have their “hands” on the controllers, but they're always looking out for different things. If they're both paying...
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Finger-shaped sensor enables more dexterous robots
Imagine grasping a heavy object, like a pipe wrench, with one hand. You would likely grab the wrench using your entire fingers, not just your fingertips. Sensory receptors in your skin, which run along...
View ArticleA method to interpret AI might not be so interpretable after all
As autonomous systems and artificial intelligence become increasingly common in daily life, new methods are emerging to help humans check that these systems are behaving as expected. One method, called...
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New technique helps robots pack objects into a tight space
Anyone who has ever tried to pack a family-sized amount of luggage into a sedan-sized trunk knows this is a hard problem. Robots struggle with dense packing tasks, too.For the robot, solving the...
View ArticleUsing language to give robots a better grasp of an open-ended world
Imagine you’re visiting a friend abroad, and you look inside their fridge to see what would make for a great breakfast. Many of the items initially appear foreign to you, with each one encased in...
View ArticleA new optimization framework for robot motion planning
It isn’t easy for a robot to find its way out of a maze. Picture the machines trying to traverse a kid’s playroom to reach the kitchen, with miscellaneous toys scattered across the floor and furniture...
View ArticleMIT engineers design a robotic replica of the heart’s right chamber
MIT engineers have developed a robotic replica of the heart’s right ventricle, which mimics the beating and blood-pumping action of live hearts.The robo-ventricle combines real heart tissue with...
View ArticleMIT Generative AI Week fosters dialogue across disciplines
In late November, faculty, staff, and students from across MIT participated in MIT Generative AI Week. The programming included a flagship full-day symposium as well as four subject-specific symposia,...
View ArticleMultiple AI models help robots execute complex plans more transparently
Your daily to-do list is likely pretty straightforward: wash the dishes, buy groceries, and other minutiae. It’s unlikely you wrote out “pick up the first dirty dish,” or “wash that plate with a...
View ArticleRichard Wiesman, professor of the practice in mechanical engineering, dies at...
Richard M. Wiesman ’76, SM ’76, PhD ’83, a professor of the practice in the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE), died on Sunday, Jan. 7. He was 69. A technology innovator and leader who...
View ArticleReasoning and reliability in AI
In order for natural language to be an effective form of communication, the parties involved need to be able to understand words and their context, assume that the content is largely shared in good...
View ArticleBaran Mensah: Savoring college life in a new country
MIT senior Baran Mensah recalls taking apart his toys as a child, curious to see how every piece worked. When his mother explained to him what an engineer was, he knew that’s what he wanted to be....
View ArticleProfessor Emeritus Igor Paul, an expert in product design and safety, dies at 87
Professor Emeritus Igor Paul ’60, SM ’61, PhD ’64, an influential professor of mechanical engineering, passed away on Dec. 17, 2023 at his home in St. Petersburg, Florida. He was 87. Paul was a member...
View ArticleSix MIT students selected as spring 2024 MIT-Pillar AI Collective Fellows
The MIT-Pillar AI Collective has announced six fellows for the spring 2024 semester. With support from the program, the graduate students, who are in their final year of a master’s or PhD program, will...
View ArticleSmart glove teaches new physical skills
You’ve likely met someone who identifies as a visual or auditory learner, but others absorb knowledge through a different modality: touch. Being able to understand tactile interactions is especially...
View Article“We offer another place for knowledge”
In the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, Jospin Hassan didn’t have access to the education opportunities he sought. So, he decided to create his own. Hassan knew the booming fields of data science and...
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Study determines the original orientations of rocks drilled on Mars
As it trundles around an ancient lakebed on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is assembling a one-of-a-kind rock collection. The car-sized explorer is methodically drilling into the Red Planet’s surface...
View ArticleMethod rapidly verifies that a robot will avoid collisions
Before a robot can grab dishes off a shelf to set the table, it must ensure its gripper and arm won’t crash into anything and potentially shatter the fine china. As part of its motion planning process,...
View ArticleIs this the future of fashion?
Until recently, bespoke tailoring — clothing made to a customer’s individual specifications — was the only way to have garments that provided the perfect fit for your physique. For most people, the...
View Article“Imagine it, build it” at MIT
MIT class 2.679 (Electronics for Mechanical Systems II) offers a sort of alchemy that transforms students from consumers of knowledge to explorers and innovators, and equips them with a range of...
View ArticleResearchers help robots navigate efficiently in uncertain environments
If a robot traveling to a destination has just two possible paths, it needs only to compare the routes’ travel time and probability of success. But if the robot is traversing a complex environment with...
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Engineering household robots to have a little common sense
From wiping up spills to serving up food, robots are being taught to carry out increasingly complicated household tasks. Many such home-bot trainees are learning through imitation; they are programmed...
View ArticleMIT engineers design flexible “skeletons” for soft, muscle-powered robots
Our muscles are nature’s perfect actuators — devices that turn energy into motion. For their size, muscle fibers are more powerful and precise than most synthetic actuators. They can even heal from...
View ArticleExtracting hydrogen from rocks
It’s commonly thought that the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen, exists mainly alongside other elements — with oxygen in water, for example, and with carbon in methane. But naturally...
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