HEADLINES ARCHIVE
One-Eyed Robot Learns to Judge Distances
It is a mathematical impossibility to extract distances to objects from a single image if the object has not been encountered before.
UV Provides On-Demand Marine Water Sampling
The ability to collect samples on demand enables better targeting of areas of scientific interest, potentially allowing for more efficient collection of specific samples.
How the PLC Revolutionized Industrial Process Control
Almost 50 years after its introduction, the PLC remains the dominant industrial control unit despite the rise of PC-based systems.
Elemental Product May Enhance Deployment of Manufacturing Data
The system gathers data about otherwise invisible environmental factors and synthesizes it into actionable information.
Robots Scan for Building Defects
The robot uploads 3-D data to the cloud and informs a human operator, who can then inspect critical and complex defects.
Machine That Could Predict Human Behavior
Scientists could use Turing Learning to discover the rules governing natural or artificial systems, especially where behavior cannot be easily characterized using similarity metrics.
Safety Algorithms Enable Cobot Collaboration
Minimally invasive safety algorithms allow robots to move within inches of each other or other objects.
Driverless Bus Is Set for Testing
The service consists of two electric, driverless shuttles that traverse a 1,350-meter road.
Hubble Space Telescope: The Bad, the Ugly, and (Finally) the Good
The lessons of the Hubble Space Telescope resonate with today's big-science projects.
I, Cobot: Standardizing Safety in Collaborative Robots
A new technical specification provides guidance on safety requirements for robot systems that work alongside humans.
Feds Urge Railroads to Speed Up Work on Train Controls
Seven of 38 expected plans have been submitted for review, and officials say that much of the affected rail network has yet to be tested.
High-speed Chemical Sensor Could Aid Airport Security
Using the mid-infrared wavelength band could help security efforts aimed at detecting hazardous substances.
Transmitting Energy Efficiently Through Soft Materials
If autonomous systems such as soft robots are to become a reality, researchers need to develop a way to transmit energy through soft materials.
Artificial Intelligence Developed to Help First Responders
As an event is monitored, software learns and starts to make predictions about what resources will be needed next.
Optical Encoder May Improve Accuracy, Signal Processing
Renishaw has introduced a series of accuracy digital incremental encoders.
Plastic Components Join the Industrial Smart Parade
Its isense line of plastic products embed sensing and communication capabilities to cables, energy chains and linear bearings.
Airbus Developing Autonomous Flying Vehicles
Flight tests of the first vehicle prototype are slated for the end of 2017, the company says.
E-commerce and the Drive to Automate the Supply Chain
A slew of robots looks to replace tasks traditionally done by people in distribution and warehouse settings. Sizable barriers to adoption remain, however.
Commercial Remote-Controlled Ship Predicted by End of Decade
The challenge in accommodating autonomous ship technologies is to find the optimal way to combine them reliably and cost effectively.
Automation Fundamentally Reshaping the Manufacturing Landscape, Survey Finds
As supply chains become increasingly global, it is likely that automation activity by U.S. manufacturing companies will spread around the world.