Cases of prostate cancer are surging alarmingly around the world. Thankfully, we are developing more accurate tests that can catch the condition early

Everything you need to know about Rwanda's outbreak of Marburg virus, which has been described as one of the deadliest human pathogens

Computer simulations of how influenza A moves through human mucus found it is ideally configured to slide through the sticky stuff on its way to infecting cells

Our metabolism's response to food is highly idiosyncratic and there are hints that tailoring our diet to these personal differences can deliver health benefits

Running, swimming, HIIT or walking – what is the best way to work out? The answer is complicated, and depends on the person, finds Grace Wade

Chronic pain has increased among adults in the US since 2019, which could be due to a rise in sedentary lifestyles or reduced access to healthcare amid covid-19 restrictions

President-elect Trump announced that billionaire Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

On Tuesday, three of nine ballot issues Denver voters had to decide dealt with animals and animal products. But nothing changed because all of them were slaughtered at the ballot  box. One of the ballot issues called for prohibiting any slaughterhouse from operating in the City or County of Denver. That... Continue Reading

Since winning the election last week, President-elect Trump has begun evaluating and rolling out his Cabinet picks, with dozens of names jockeying for some two dozen positions.

Incumbent Republican David Valadao is projected to emerge victorious in California's 22nd Congressional District. The highly contested race was considered to be a tossup.

House Republicans are once again at odds with one another after conservatives threatened to protest Speaker Johnson's bid to lead the conference again.

Prepare yourself for the challenges of creating cutting-edge A&D autonomous tech. Download the e-book to explore how autonomy is transforming the aerospace & defense industry.

Download this free whitepaper now!

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

Humanoids 2024: 22–24 November 2024, NANCY, FRANCE

Enjoy today’s videos!

We’re hoping to get more on this from Boston Dynamics, but if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s electric Atlas doing something productive (and autonomous!).

And why not do it in a hot dog costume for Halloween, too?

[ Boston Dynamics ]

Ooh, this is exciting! Aldebaran is getting ready to release a seventh generation of NAO!

[ Aldebaran ]

Okay I found this actually somewhat scary, but Happy Halloween from ANYbotics!

[ ANYbotics ]

Happy Halloween from the Clearpath!

[ Clearpath Robotics Inc. ]

Another genuinely freaky Happy Halloween, from Boston Dynamics!

[ Boston Dynamics ]

This “urban opera” by Compagnie La Machine took place last weekend in Toulouse, featuring some truly enormous fantastical robots.

[ Compagnie La Machine ]

Thanks, Thomas!

Impressive dismount from Deep Robotics’ DR01.

[ Deep Robotics ]

Cobot juggling from Daniel Simu.

[ Daniel Simu ]

Adaptive-morphology multirotors exhibit superior versatility and task-specific performance compared to traditional multirotors owing to their functional morphological adaptability. However, a notable challenge lies in the contrasting requirements of locking each morphology for flight controllability and efficiency while permitting low-energy reconfiguration. A novel design approach is proposed for reconfigurable multirotors utilizing soft multistable composite laminate airframes.

[ Environmental Robotics Lab paper ]

This is a pitching demonstration of new Torobo. New Torobo is lighter than the older version, enabling faster motion such as throwing a ball. The new model will be available in Japan in March 2025 and overseas from October 2025 onward.

[ Tokyo Robotics ]

I’m not sure what makes this “the world’s best robotic hand for manipulation research,” but it seems solid enough.

[ Robot Era ]

And now, picking a micro cat.

[ RoCogMan Lab ]

When Arvato’s Louisville, Ky. staff wanted a robotics system that could unload freight with greater speed and safety, Boston Dynamics’ Stretch robot stood out. Stretch is a first of its kind mobile robot designed specifically to unload boxes from trailers and shipping containers, freeing up employees to focus on more meaningful tasks in the warehouse. Arvato acquired its first Stretch system this year and the robot’s impact was immediate.

[ Boston Dynamics ]

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture the silhouette of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as it passed in front of the Sun on Sept. 30, 2024, the 1,285th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

[ NASA ]

Students from Howard University, Moorehouse College, and Berea College joined University of Michigan robotics students in online Robotics 102 courses for the fall ‘23 and winter ‘24 semesters. The class is part of the distributed teaching collaborative, a co-teaching initiative started in 2020 aimed at providing cutting edge robotics courses for students who would normally not have access to at their current university.

[ University of Michigan Robotics ]

Discover the groundbreaking projects and cutting-edge technology at the Robotics and Automation Summer School (RASS) hosted by Los Alamos National Laboratory. In this exclusive behind-the-scenes video, students from top universities work on advanced robotics in disciplines such as AI, automation, machine learning, and autonomous systems.

[ Los Alamos National Laboratory ]

This week’s Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute Seminar is from Princeton University’s Anirudha Majumdar, on “Robots That Know When They Don’t Know.”

Foundation models from machine learning have enabled rapid advances in perception, planning, and natural language understanding for robots. However, current systems lack any rigorous assurances when required to generalize to novel scenarios. For example, perception systems can fail to identify or localize unfamiliar objects, and large language model (LLM)-based planners can hallucinate outputs that lead to unsafe outcomes when executed by robots. How can we rigorously quantify the uncertainty of machine learning components such that robots know when they don’t know and can act accordingly?

[ Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute ]

Boston Dynamics is the master of dropping amazing robot videos with no warning, and last week, we got a surprise look at the new electric Atlas going “hands on” with a practical factory task.

This video is notable because it’s the first real look we’ve had at the new Atlas doing something useful—or doing anything at all, really, as the introductory video from back in April (the first time we saw the robot) was less than a minute long. And the amount of progress that Boston Dynamics has made is immediately obvious, with the video showing a blend of autonomous perception, full body motion, and manipulation in a practical task.

We sent over some quick questions as soon as we saw the video, and we’ve got some extra detail from Scott Kuindersma, senior director of Robotics Research at Boston Dynamics.

If you haven’t seen this video yet, what kind of robotics person are you, and also here you go:

Atlas is autonomously moving engine covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly. The robot receives as input a list of bin locations to move parts between.

Atlas uses a machine learning (ML) vision model to detect and localize the environment fixtures and individual bins [0:36]. The robot uses a specialized grasping policy and continuously estimates the state of manipulated objects to achieve the task.

There are no prescribed or teleoperated movements; all motions are generated autonomously online. The robot is able to detect and react to changes in the environment (e.g., moving fixtures) and action failures (e.g., failure to insert the cover, tripping, environment collisions [1:24]) using a combination of vision, force, and proprioceptive sensors.

Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that this task is very similar to what we saw hydraulic Atlas (Atlas classic?) working on just before it retired. We probably don’t need to read too much into the differences between how each robot performs that task, but it’s an interesting comparison to make.

For more details, here’s our Q&A with Kuindersma:

How many takes did this take?

Kuindersma: We ran this sequence a couple times that day, but typically we’re always filming as we continue developing and testing Atlas. Today we’re able to run that engine cover demo with high reliability, and we’re working to expand the scope and duration of tasks like these.

Is this a task that humans currently do?

Kuindersma: Yes.

What kind of world knowledge does Atlas have while doing this task?

Kuindersma: The robot has access to a CAD model of the engine cover that is used for object pose prediction from RGB images. Fixtures are represented more abstractly using a learned keypoint prediction model. The robot builds a map of the workcell at startup which is updated on the fly when changes are detected (e.g., moving fixture).

Does Atlas’s torso have a front or back in a meaningful way when it comes to how it operates?

Kuindersma: Its head/torso/pelvis/legs do have “forward” and “backward” directions, but the robot is able to rotate all of these relative to one another. The robot always knows which way is which, but sometimes the humans watching lose track.

Are the head and torso capable of unlimited rotation?

Kuindersma: Yes, many of Atlas’s joints are continuous.

How long did it take you folks to get used to the way Atlas moves?

Kuindersma: Atlas’s motions still surprise and delight the team.

OSHA recommends against squatting because it can lead to workplace injuries. How does Atlas feel about that?

Kuindersma: As might be evident by some of Atlas’s other motions, the kinds of behaviors that might be injurious for humans might be perfectly fine for robots.

Can you describe exactly what process Atlas goes through at 1:22?

Kuindersma: The engine cover gets caught on the fabric bins and triggers a learned failure detector on the robot. Right now this transitions into a general-purpose recovery controller, which results in a somewhat jarring motion (we will improve this). After recovery, the robot retries the insertion using visual feedback to estimate the state of both the part and fixture.

Were there other costume options you considered before going with the hot dog?

Kuindersma: Yes, but marketing wants to save them for next year.

How many important sensors does the hot dog costume occlude?

Kuindersma: None. The robot is using cameras in the head, proprioceptive sensors, IMU, and force sensors in the wrists and feet. We did have to cut the costume at the top so the head could still spin around.

Why are pickles always causing problems?

Kuindersma: Because pickles are pesky, polarizing pests.

Research expeditions conducted at sea using a rotating gravity machine and microscope found that the Earth’s oceans may not be absorbing as much carbon as researchers have long thought.

Oceans are believed to absorb roughly 26 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions by drawing down CO₂ from the atmosphere and locking it away. In this system, CO₂ enters the ocean, where phytoplankton and other organisms consume about 70 percent of it. When these organisms eventually die, their soft, small structures sink to the bottom of the ocean in what looks like an underwater snowfall.

This “marine snow” pulls carbon away from the surface of the ocean and sequesters it in the depths for millennia, which enables the surface waters to draw down more CO₂ from the air. It’s one of Earth’s best natural carbon-removal systems. It’s so effective at keeping atmospheric CO₂ levels in check that many research groups are trying to enhance the process with geoengineering techniques.

But the new study, published on 11 October in Science, found that the sinking particles don’t fall to the ocean floor as quickly as researchers thought. Using a custom gravity machine that simulated marine snow’s native environment, the study’s authors observed that the particles produce mucus tails that act like parachutes, putting the brakes on their descent—sometimes even bringing them to a standstill.

The physical drag leaves carbon lingering in the upper hydrosphere, rather than being safely sequestered in deeper waters. Living organisms can then consume the marine snow particles and respire their carbon back into the sea. Ultimately, this impedes the rate at which the ocean draws down and sequesters additional CO₂ from the air.

The implications are grim: Scientists’ best estimates of how much CO₂ the Earth’s oceans sequester could be way off. “We’re talking roughly hundreds of gigatonnes of discrepancy if you don’t include these marine snow tails,” says Manu Prakash, a bioengineer at Stanford University and one of the paper’s authors. The work was conducted by researchers at Stanford, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

Oceans Absorb Less CO₂ Than Expected

Researchers for years have been developing numerical models to estimate marine carbon sequestration. Those models will need to be adjusted for the slower sinking speed of marine snow, Prakash says.

The findings also have implications for startups in the fledgling marine carbon geoengineering field. These companies use techniques such as ocean alkalinity enhancement to augment the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon. Their success depends, in part, on using numerical models to prove to investors and the public that their techniques work. But their estimates are only as good as the models they use, and the scientific community’s confidence in them.

“We’re talking roughly hundreds of gigatonnes of discrepancy if you don’t include these marine snow tails.” —Manu Prakash, Stanford University

The Stanford researchers made the discovery on an expedition off the coast of Maine. There, they collected marine samples by hanging traps from their boat 80 meters deep. After pulling up a sample, the researchers quickly analyzed the contents while still on board the ship using their wheel-shaped machine and microscope.

The researchers built a microscope with a spinning wheel that simulates marine snow falling through sea water over longer distances than would otherwise be practical.Prakash Lab/Stanford

The device simulates the organisms’ vertical travel over long distances. Samples go into a wheel about the size of a vintage film reel. The wheel spins constantly, allowing suspended marine-snow particles to sink while a camera captures their every move.

The apparatus adjusts for temperature, light, and pressure to emulate marine conditions. Computational tools assess flow around the sinking particles and custom software removes noise in the data from the ship’s vibrations. To accommodate for the tilt and roll of the ship, the researchers mounted the device on a two-axis gimbal.

Slower Marine Snow Reduces Carbon Sequestration

With this setup, the team observed that sinking marine snow generates an invisible halo-shaped comet tail made of viscoelastic transparent exopolymer—a mucus-like parachute. They discovered the invisible tail by adding small beads to the seawater sample in the wheel, and analyzing the way they flowed around the marine snow. “We found that the beads were stuck in something invisible trailing behind the sinking particles,” says Rahul Chajwa, a bioengineering postdoctoral fellow at Stanford.

The tail introduces drag and buoyancy, doubling the amount of time marine snow spends in the upper 100 meters of the ocean, the researchers concluded. “This is the sedimentation law we should be following,” says Prakash, who hopes to get the results into climate models.

The study will likely help models project carbon export—the process of transporting CO₂ from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, says Lennart Bach, a marine biochemist at the University of Tasmania in Australia, who was not involved with the research. “The methodology they developed is very exciting and it’s great to see new methods coming into this research field,” he says.

But Bach cautions against extrapolating the results too far. “I don’t think the study will change the numbers on carbon export as we know them right now,” because these numbers are derived from empirical methods that would have unknowingly included the effects of the mucus tail, he says.

Marine snow may be slowed by “parachutes” of mucus while sinking, potentially lowering the rate at which the global ocean can sequester carbon in the depths.Prakash Lab/Stanford

Prakash and his team came up with the idea for the microscope while conducting research on a human parasite that can travel dozens of meters. “We would make 5- to 10-meter-tall microscopes, and one day, while packing for a trip to Madagascar, I had this ‘aha’ moment,” says Prakash. “I was like: Why are we packing all these tubes? What if the two ends of these tubes were connected?”

The group turned their linear tube into a closed circular channel—a hamster wheel approach to observing microscopic particles. Over five expeditions at sea, the team further refined the microscope’s design and fluid mechanics to accommodate marine samples, often tackling the engineering while on the boat and adjusting for flooding and high seas.

In addition to the sedimentation physics of marine snow, the team also studies other plankton that may affect climate and carbon-cycle models. On a recent expedition off the coast of Northern California, the group discovered a cell with silica ballast that makes marine snow sink like a rock, Prakash says.

The crafty gravity machine is one of Prakash’s many frugal inventions, which include an origami-inspired paper microscope, or “foldscope,” that can be attached to a smartphone, and a paper-and-string biomedical centrifuge dubbed a “paperfuge.”

Last week the organization tasked with running the the biggest chunk of U.S. CHIPS Act’s US $13 billion R&D program made some significant strides: The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) released a strategic plan and selected the sites of two of three planned facilities and released a new strategic plan. The locations of the two sites—a “design and collaboration” center in Sunnyvale, Calif., and a lab devoted to advancing the leading edge of chipmaking, in Albany, N.Y.—build on an existing ecosystem at each location, experts say. The location of the third planned center—a chip prototyping and packaging site that could be especially critical for speeding semiconductor startups—is still a matter of speculation.

“The NSTC represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the U.S. to accelerate the pace of innovation in semiconductor technology,” Deirdre Hanford, CEO of Natcast, the nonprofit that runs the NSTC centers, said in a statement. According to the strategic plan, which covers 2025 to 2027, the NSTC is meant to accomplish three goals: extend U.S. technology leadership, reduce the time and cost to prototype, and build and sustain a semiconductor workforce development ecosystem. The three centers are meant to do a mix of all three.

New York gets extreme ultraviolet lithography

NSTC plans to direct $825 million into the Albany project. The site will be dedicated to extreme ultraviolet lithography, a technology that’s essential to making the most advanced logic chips. The Albany Nanotech Complex, which has already seen more than $25 billion in investments from the state and industry partners over two decades, will form the heart of the future NSTC center. It already has an EUV lithography machine on site and has begun an expansion to install a next-generation version, called high-NA EUV, which promises to produce even finer chip features. Working with a tool recently installed in Europe, IBM, a long-time tenant of the Albany research facility, reported record yields of copper interconnects built every 21 nanometers, a pitch several nanometers tighter than possible with ordinary EUV.

“It’s fulfilling to see that this ecosystem can be taken to the national and global level through CHIPS Act funding,” said Mukesh Khare, general manager of IBM’s semiconductors division, speaking from the future site of the NSTC EUV center. “It’s the right time, and we have all the ingredients.”

While only a few companies are capable of manufacturing cutting edge logic using EUV, the impact of the NSTC center will be much broader, Khare argues. It will extend down as far as early-stage startups with ideas or materials for improving the chipmaking process “An EUV R&D center doesn’t mean just one machine,” says Khare. “It needs so many machines around it… It’s a very large ecosystem.”

Silicon Valley lands the design center

The design center is tasked with conducting advanced research in chip design, electronic design automation (EDA), chip and system architectures, and hardware security. It will also host the NSTC’s design enablement gateway—a program that provides NSTC members with a secure, cloud-based access to design tools, reference processes and designs, and shared data sets, with the goal of reducing the time and cost of design. Additionally, it will house workforce development, member convening, and administration functions.

Situating the design center in Silicon Valley, with its concentration of research universities, venture capital, and workforce, seems like the obvious choice to many experts. “I can’t think of a better place,” says Patrick Soheili, co-founder of interconnect technology startup Eliyan, which is based in Santa Clara, Calif.

Abhijeet Chakraborty, vice president of engineering in the technology and product group at Silicon Valley-based Synopsys, a leading maker of EDA software, sees Silicon Valley’s expansive tech ecosystem as one of its main advantages in landing the NSTC’s design center. The region concentrates companies and researchers involved in the whole spectrum of the industry from semiconductor process technology to cloud software.

Access to such a broad range of industries is increasingly important for chip design startups, he says. “To design a chip or component these days you need to go from concept to design to validation in an environment that takes care of the entire stack,” he says. It’s prohibitively expensive for a startup to do that alone, so one of Chakraborty’s hopes for the design center is that it will help startups access the design kits and other data needed to operate in this new environment.

Packaging and prototyping still to come

A third promised center for prototyping and packaging is still to come. “The big question is where does the packaging and prototyping go?” says Mark Granahan, cofounder and CEO of Pennsylvania-based power semiconductor startup Ideal Semiconductor. “To me that’s a great opportunity.” He points out that because there is so little packaging technology infrastructure in the United States, any ambitious state or region should have a shot at hosting such a center. One of the original intentions of the act, after all, was to expand the number of regions of the country that are involved in the semiconductor industry.

But that hasn’t stopped some already tech-heavy regions from wanting it. “Oregon offers the strongest ecosystem for such a facility,” a spokesperson for Intel, whose technology development is done there. “The state is uniquely positioned to contribute to the success of the NSTC and help drive technological advancements in the U.S. semiconductor industry.”

As NSTC makes progress, Granahan’s concern is that bureaucracy will expand with it and slow efforts to boost the U.S. chip industry. Already the layers of control are multiplying. The Chips Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology executes the Act. The NSTC is administered by the nonprofit Natcast, which directs the EUV center, which is in a facility run by another nonprofit, NY CREATES. “We want these things to be agile and make local decisions.”

EPICS in IEEE, a service learning program for university students supported by IEEE Educational Activities, offers students opportunities to engage with engineering professionals and mentors, local organizations, and technological innovation to address community-based issues.

The following two environmentally focused projects demonstrate the value of teamwork and direct involvement with project stakeholders. One uses smart biodigesters to better manage waste in Colombia’s rural areas. The other is focused on helping Turkish olive farmers protect their trees from climate change effects by providing them with a warning system that can identify growing problems.

No time to waste in rural Colombia

Proper waste management is critical to a community’s living conditions. In rural La Vega, Colombia, the lack of an effective system has led to contaminated soil and water, an especially concerning issue because the town’s economy relies heavily on agriculture.

The Smart Biodigesters for a Better Environment in Rural Areas project brought students together to devise a solution.

Vivian Estefanía Beltrán, a Ph.D. student at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, addressed the problem by building a low-cost anaerobic digester that uses an instrumentation system to break down microorganisms into biodegradable material. It reduces the amount of solid waste, and the digesters can produce biogas, which can be used to generate electricity.

“Anaerobic digestion is a natural biological process that converts organic matter into two valuable products: biogas and nutrient-rich soil amendments in the form of digestate,” Beltrán says. “As a by-product of our digester’s operation, digestate is organic matter that can’t be transferred into biogas but can be used as a soil amendment for our farmers’ crops, such as coffee.

“While it may sound easy, the process is influenced by a lot of variables. The support we’ve received from EPICS in IEEE is important because it enables us to measure these variables, such as pH levels, temperature of the reactor, and biogas composition [methane and hydrogen sulfide]. The system allows us to make informed decisions that enhance the safety, quality, and efficiency of the process for the benefit of the community.”

The project was a collaborative effort among Universidad del Rosario students, a team of engineering students from Escuela Tecnológica Instituto Técnico Central, Professor Carlos Felipe Vergara, and members of Junta de Acción Comunal (Vereda La Granja), which aims to help residents improve their community.

“It’s been a great experience to see how individuals pursuing different fields of study—from engineering to electronics and computer science—can all work and learn together on a project that will have a direct positive impact on a community.” —Vivian Estefanía Beltrán

Beltrán worked closely with eight undergraduate students and three instructors—Maria Fernanda Gómez, Andrés Pérez Gordillo (the instrumentation group leader), and Carlos Felipe Vergara-Ramirez—as well as IEEE Graduate Student Member Nicolás Castiblanco (the instrumentation group coordinator).

The team constructed and installed their anaerobic digester system in an experimental station in La Vega, a town located roughly 53 kilometers northwest of Bogotá.

“This digester is an important innovation for the residents of La Vega, as it will hopefully offer a productive way to utilize the residual biomass they produce to improve quality of life and boost the economy,” Beltrán says. Soon, she adds, the system will be expanded to incorporate high-tech sensors that automatically monitor biogas production and the digestion process.

“For our students and team members, it’s been a great experience to see how individuals pursuing different fields of study—from engineering to electronics and computer science—can all work and learn together on a project that will have a direct positive impact on a community. It enables all of us to apply our classroom skills to reality,” she says. “The funding we’ve received from EPICS in IEEE has been crucial to designing, proving, and installing the system.”

The project also aims to support the development of a circular economy, which reuses materials to enhance the community’s sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Protecting olive groves in Türkiye

Türkiye is one of the world’s leading producers of olives, but the industry has been challenged in recent years by unprecedented floods, droughts, and other destructive forces of nature resulting from climate change. To help farmers in the western part of the country monitor the health of their olive trees, a team of students from Istanbul Technical University developed an early-warning system to identify irregularities including abnormal growth.

“Almost no olives were produced last year using traditional methods, due to climate conditions and unusual weather patterns,” says Tayfun Akgül, project leader of the Smart Monitoring of Fruit Trees in Western Türkiye initiative.

“Our system will give farmers feedback from each tree so that actions can be taken in advance to improve the yield,” says Akgül, an IEEE senior member and a professor in the university’s electronics and communication engineering department.

“We’re developing deep-learning techniques to detect changes in olive trees and their fruit so that farmers and landowners can take all necessary measures to avoid a low or damaged harvest,” says project coordinator Melike Girgin, a Ph.D. student at the university and an IEEE graduate student member.

Using drones outfitted with 360-degree optical and thermal cameras, the team collects optical, thermal, and hyperspectral imaging data through aerial methods. The information is fed into a cloud-based, open-source database system.

Akgül leads the project and teaches the team skills including signal and image processing and data collection. He says regular communication with community-based stakeholders has been critical to the project’s success.

“There are several farmers in the village who have helped us direct our drone activities to the right locations,” he says. “Their involvement in the project has been instrumental in helping us refine our process for greater effectiveness.

“For students, classroom instruction is straightforward, then they take an exam at the end. But through our EPICS project, students are continuously interacting with farmers in a hands-on, practical way and can see the results of their efforts in real time.”

Looking ahead, the team is excited about expanding the project to encompass other fruits besides olives. The team also intends to apply for a travel grant from IEEE in hopes of presenting its work at a conference.

“We’re so grateful to EPICS in IEEE for this opportunity,” Girgin says. “Our project and some of the technology we required wouldn’t have been possible without the funding we received.”

A purpose-driven partnership

The IEEE Standards Association sponsored both of the proactive environmental projects.

“Technical projects play a crucial role in advancing innovation and ensuring interoperability across various industries,” says Munir Mohammed, IEEE SA senior manager of product development and market engagement. “These projects not only align with our technical standards but also drive technological progress, enhance global collaboration, and ultimately improve the quality of life for communities worldwide.”

For more information on the program or to participate in service-learning projects, visit EPICS in IEEE.

On 7 November, this article was updated from an earlier version.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

Humanoids 2024: 22–24 November 2024, NANCY, FRANCE

Enjoy today’s videos!

Just when I thought quadrupeds couldn’t impress me anymore...

[ Unitree Robotics ]

Researchers at Meta FAIR are releasing several new research artifacts that advance robotics and support our goal of reaching advanced machine intelligence (AMI). These include Meta Sparsh, the first general-purpose encoder for vision-based tactile sensing that works across many tactile sensors and many tasks; Meta Digit 360, an artificial fingertip-based tactile sensor that delivers detailed touch data with human-level precision and touch-sensing; and Meta Digit Plexus, a standardized platform for robotic sensor connections and interactions that enables seamless data collection, control and analysis over a single cable.

[ Meta ]

The first bimanual Torso created at Clone includes an actuated elbow, cervical spine (neck), and anthropomorphic shoulders with the sternoclavicular, acromioclavicular, scapulothoracic and glenohumeral joints. The valve matrix fits compactly inside the ribcage. Bimanual manipulation training is in progress.

[ Clone Inc. ]

Equipped with a new behavior architecture, Nadia navigates and traverses many types of doors autonomously. Nadia also demonstrates robustness to failed grasps and door opening attempts by automatically retrying and continuing. We present the robot with pull and push doors, four types of opening mechanisms, and even spring-loaded door closers. A deep neural network and door plane estimator allow Nadia to identify and track the doors.

[ Paper preprint by authors from Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition ]

Thanks, Duncan!

In this study, we integrate the musculoskeletal humanoid Musashi with the wire-driven robot CubiX, capable of connecting to the environment, to form CubiXMusashi. This combination addresses the shortcomings of traditional musculoskeletal humanoids and enables movements beyond the capabilities of other humanoids. CubiXMusashi connects to the environment with wires and drives by winding them, successfully achieving movements such as pull-up, rising from a lying pose, and mid-air kicking, which are difficult for Musashi alone.

[ CubiXMusashi, JSK Robotics Laboratory, University of Tokyo ]

Thanks, Shintaro!

An old boardwalk seems like a nightmare for any robot with flat feet.

[ Agility Robotics ]

This paper presents a novel learning-based control framework that uses keyframing to incorporate high-level objectives in natural locomotion for legged robots. These high-level objectives are specified as a variable number of partial or complete pose targets that are spaced arbitrarily in time. Our proposed framework utilizes a multi-critic reinforcement learning algorithm to effectively handle the mixture of dense and sparse rewards. In the experiments, the multi-critic method significantly reduces the effort of hyperparameter tuning compared to the standard single-critic alternative. Moreover, the proposed transformer-based architecture enables robots to anticipate future goals, which results in quantitative improvements in their ability to reach their targets.

[ Disney Research paper ]

Human-like walking where that human is the stompiest human to ever human its way through Humanville.

[ Engineai ]

We present the first static-obstacle avoidance method for quadrotors using just an onboard, monocular event camera. Quadrotors are capable of fast and agile flight in cluttered environments when piloted manually, but vision-based autonomous flight in unknown environments is difficult in part due to the sensor limitations of traditional onboard cameras. Event cameras, however, promise nearly zero motion blur and high dynamic range, but produce a large volume of events under significant ego-motion and further lack a continuous-time sensor model in simulation, making direct sim-to-real transfer not possible.

[ Paper University of Pennsylvania and University of Zurich ]

Cross-embodiment imitation learning enables policies trained on specific embodiments to transfer across different robots, unlocking the potential for large-scale imitation learning that is both cost-effective and highly reusable. This paper presents LEGATO, a cross-embodiment imitation learning framework for visuomotor skill transfer across varied kinematic morphologies. We introduce a handheld gripper that unifies action and observation spaces, allowing tasks to be defined consistently across robots.

[ LEGATO ]

The 2024 Xi’an Marathon has kicked off! STAR1, the general-purpose humanoid robot from Robot Era, joins runners in this ancient yet modern city for an exciting start!

[ Robot Era ]

In robotics, there are valuable lessons for students and mentors alike. Watch how the CyberKnights, a FIRST robotics team champion sponsored by RTX, with the encouragement of their RTX mentor, faced challenges after a poor performance and scrapped its robot to build a new one in just nine days.

[ CyberKnights ]

In this special video, PAL Robotics takes you behind the scenes of our 20th-anniversary celebration, a memorable gathering with industry leaders and visionaries from across robotics and technology. From inspiring speeches to milestone highlights, the event was a testament to our journey and the incredible partnerships that have shaped our path.

[ PAL Robotics ]

Thanks, Rugilė!

First Mac mini redesign in almost 15 years highlights how good the insides are.

Other Windows Insider updates include new CPU instructions for Prism x86 emulator.

Not a surprising generational update, but a lot of progress for just one year.

Researchers suspect the marine mammals may have been communicating across the vast distance

From fish smoothies to oral antibiotics, researchers are taking matters into their own hands in a radical effort to save New Zealand’s yellow-eyed penguins

The storm decimated a region rich with dozens of species already struggling with habitat loss and disease

Read on for everything you should know about the history-making politician.

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'AGT' returned on Tuesday with live shows from Universal Studios Hollywood.

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Mark Stibbe was one of John Smyth's victims. He's a former vicar and is now an author.

We spoke to one of John Smyth’s victims, Mark Stibbe, a former vicar and now an author.

In the bustling world of the restaurant industry, standing out is more challenging than ever. With diners increasingly turning to the internet to discover their next meal, having a strong online presence is crucial. This guide will show you practical tips and techniques to maximise your restaurant’s online visibility and enhance your SEO efforts. By […]

The post Maximising Online Visibility and SEO for Restaurants: Tips and Techniques appeared first on Chart Attack.

From assembling delicate electronics to constructing safety-critical aerospace components, the margin for error has shrunk to almost nothing. To meet these rigorous standards, the manufacturing industry increasingly relies on robotic precision. Modern robotics, equipped with advanced sensors, grippers, and AI, allow manufacturers to complete intricate tasks with extraordinary accuracy. Technological Innovations Driving Robotic Precision Today’s […]

The post Robotic Precision in Manufacturing: Achieving High Accuracy for Complex Tasks appeared first on Chart Attack.

They pose no risk to human health, and they're living their best lives.

Stock index switch-up reflects symbolic market shift as chip industry refocuses around AI.

Trump plans to repeal Biden's 2023 order and levy tariffs on GPU imports.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, whose country is hosting the COP29 climate summit this week, lashed out at Western media and climate activists on Tuesday for criticizing his country’s oil and gas industries.

The post U.N. Climate Summit Host Azerbaijan: Fossil Fuels a ‘Gift from God,’ Environmentalists Engaging in ‘Blackmail’ appeared first on Breitbart.

President-elect Donald Trump announced he has picked Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to "lead the Department of Government Efficiency."

The post Donald Trump Selects Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to ‘Lead the Department of Government Efficiency’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The two men found guilty of mischief and firearms offences for their roles in the 2022 Coutts border blockade want the Alberta Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions, while prosecutors are seeking new trials on the more serious charge of conspiring to murder RCMP officers, for which they were acquitted.

A teenager who tested positive for avian flu is in critical condition with acute respiratory distress according to Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

The gospel legend, whose new album is titled One True Vine, has a career spanning more than 60 years. She says of the record, made in collaboration with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, "I've gone from the strictly gospel to folk to country, and here I am right back at home where I began."

On the final day of Talk of the Nation, staff and colleagues have been faced with the dilemma of how to say goodbye. When your words fail, a greeting card can supply the right sentiment. Former Hallmark greeting card writer David Dickerson gives advice on saying goodbye.

Service meshes have become a cornerstone in the architecture of modern microservices, providing a dedicated infrastructure layer to manage service-to-service communication. Traditionally,

The post Sidecarless Service Meshes: Are They Ready for Prime Time? appeared first on Gigaom.

As we head into 2025, CEOs are focused on a clear set of priorities—AI-enabled growth, dynamic capacity, risk management, and human-machine integration.

The post Driving AI Transformation appeared first on Gigaom.

Election deniers have spent the past four years focused on false claims that 2020 was rigged. This year, it raised similar alarms about fraud — only for those claims to evaporate as returns came in.

Tech companies are force-feeding people AI on search engines and social media platforms and there's no way to opt out. Google search, considered the gateway to the internet, is especially frustrating.

1. Study reveals how 3D environments affect bacterial growth and survival  The Hindu
2. 3D environments influence bacterial growth & survival  The Times of India
3. Shape Matters: New Research Reveals Impact of 3D Environments on Bacterial Growth  Research Matters
4. Study reveals role of 3D environments in influencing bacterial survival and growth  Bangalore Mirror

1. Best smartphones under ₹20,000 with good cameras: Redmi Note 13 Pro, Vivo T3 5G and others  Hindustan Times
2. Best smartphones under ₹30,000 with good battery life and cameras  Mint
3. 5 Affordable Camera Phones To Make Instagram Reels  Times Now
4. Best Smartphones Under Rs 20,000 With Excellent Cameras, Redmi Note 13 Pro, Vivo T3 5G & More  NewsX

1. Xi Jinping leaves for APEC meeting and state visit in Peru  CGTN
2. Peru and China to sign strengthened free-trade agreement in Xi's APEC visit  Hindustan Times
3. Amid unease over Trump 2.0, Xi Jinping heads to South America; Peru first stop  Firstpost
4. Moments in Motion | President Xi's memorable moments - Peru  Xinhua
5. Another Modi, Xi meet likely at G20 in Brazil  Deccan Chronicle