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Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor that could give robots something much closer to a human sense of touch. The technology, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, is based on liquid metal composites and graphene - a two-dimensional form of carbon.

EPFL roboticists have shown that when a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems, where the breakdown of one element often means a loss of functionality. If the goal of a robot is to perform a function, then minimizing the possibility of failure is a top priority when it comes to robotic design.

The potential of microrobots is enormous. These miniature objects can be designed to carry out actions within the body, such as sensing biomarkers, manipulating objects like blood clots, or delivering drug therapies to tumor sites. But working out how to make the tiny bots effective, biocompatible, and cost effective is challenging.

A robotic hand developed at EPFL surpasses the limits of human dexterity with a dual-thumbed, reversible-palm design that can detach from its robotic 'arm' to reach and grasp multiple objects.

Nanomechanical systems developed at TU Wien have now reached a level of precision and miniaturization that will allow them to be used in ultra-high-resolution atomic force microscopes in the future. A major leap in measurement technology begins with a tiny gap of just 32 nanometers. This is the distance between a movable aluminum membrane and a fixed electrode, together forming an extremely compact parallel-plate capacitor-a new world record.

A team of researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) has developed an innovative algorithm for Wi-Fi networks called "Ponte" that can provide

A new study led by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and Imperial College London has revealed how dragonflies use a small number of strategically positioned sensors on their wings to monitor wing shape in real time. This simple but highly effective biological system enables the insects to remain exceptionally stable or manoeuvre in flight, despite having comparatively tiny brains.

The first evidence that humans have the ability to sense objects without direct contact, a form of 'remote touch' that birds such as sandpipers have, has been presented in a new study from researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London. In terms of objects, human touch has typically been understood to be limited to physical touch, where we detect objects through contact with our skin.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed artificial muscles that contain microbubbles and can be controlled with ultrasound. In the future, these muscles could be deployed in technical and medical settings as gripper arms, tissue patches, targeted drug delivery, or robots. It might look like a simple material experiment at first glance, as a brief ultrasound stimulation induces a thin strip of silicone to start bending and arching.

Scientists at TU Delft have developed a new algorithm that allows multiple autonomous drones to work together to control and transport heavy payloads, even in windy conditions.

An international team led by researchers at the University of Waterloo has developed new material that can be used as flexible "artificial muscles" to replace rigid motors and pumps in robots and allow them to move more naturally and fluidly. Soft robots differ from hard robots in that they are pliable and flexible, making them safe for interaction with people, but the materials currently used for components enabling their movement aren't strong enough to be effective.

Using simulations, robots, and live fish, scientists at EPFL and Duke University have replicated the neural circuitry that allows zebrafish to react to visual stimuli and maintain their position in flowing water. They provide a complete picture of how brain circuits, body mechanics, and the environment work together to control behavior.

Researchers have pioneered a 3D printing method that grows metals and ceramics inside a water-based gel, resulting in exceptionally dense, yet intricate constructions for next-generation energy, biomedical, and sensing technologies.

People who care informally for sick or disabled friends and relatives often become invisible in their own lives. Focusing on the needs of those they care for, they rarely get the chance to talk about their own emotions or challenges, and this can lead to them feeling increasingly stressed and isolated.

Energy-efficient and data-saving: research team develops audio system for fault detection in industry How can bio-inspired microsensor technology be used to reliably and resource-efficiently detect acoustic anomalies in industrial environments? An interdisciplinary research team from the Ilmenau School of Electronics (ISGE) at TU Ilmenau is looking into this question.

Localization algorithms are necessary for a robot to know where it is. These usually work with sensor data from which the position can be calculated. In many cases, it is still very time-consuming for engineers and researchers to find out how a sensor is constructed, in which format the sensor data is communicated and which position calibration this sensor has on a robot.

Weaver ants increase their individual strength as teams grow larger and by cracking the secret to superefficient teamwork, they offer insights that could transform robot design.

Researchers have pioneered a 3D-printable, programmable lattice structure for robotics that mimics the vast diversity of biological tissues - from a flexible trunk to rigid bone - using a single foam material. A cheetah's powerful sprint, a snake's lithe slither, or a human's deft grasp: each is made possible by the seamless interplay between soft and rigid tissues.

African scaly-tailed squirrels use their scaled tails to safely move across the smooth bark of trees in their native rainforest habitats. Researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have for the first time investigated the physics of these thorn-covered scales located on the underside of the squirrel tails through mathematical and physical models.

Engineers have harnessed quantum physics to detect the presence of biomolecules without the need for an external light source, overcoming a significant obstacle to the use of optical biosensors in healthcare and environmental monitoring settings. Optical biosensors use light waves as a probe to detect molecules, and are essential for precise medical diagnostics, personalized medicine, and environmental monitoring.