Robot

From water-skipping robots to elephant-skin inspired cooling materials, engineers have continued to find inspiration in nature in order to move technology forward for humans. And it's set to take center-stage in the new age of robotics.

Six doctors in Nebraska have successfully operated a surgical robot aboard the ISS. This time, the operation was on only rubber bands, but the milestone could have meaning for future missions to Mars or for rural operating rooms here on Earth.

Scientists have long puzzled over why some dinosaurs had feathers and wings long before they evolved the ability of flight. Experiments with a robot dinosaur may now have revealed the answer – they used them for hunting.

It may not look anything like the kind of tiny surgeon you'd want inside your soft tissue, but this small, soft metallic robot with flexible 'scales' like the land mammal can be magnetically controlled to treat internal injuries and deliver drugs.

Back in 2020, Open Ocean Engineering launched an autonomous vessel designed to clear plastic waste from local waterways. After partnering with Razer last year for a radical redesign, a sleeker Clearbot has now started patrolling Hong Kong waters.

Skin plays a key role in our sense of touch, but its sensitivity is hard to replicate. Now, researchers have developed a new type of electronic skin (e-skin) containing tiny embedded hairs that can precisely perceive touch and the direction it moves.

Researchers have developed microbots made of stem cells that can be delivered through the nose into the brain. These “Cellbots,” which bypass the blood-brain barrier, could one day be used to treat brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.

Boston Dynamics’ dog-like robot has now been turned into a tiny mobile doctor, able to remotely measure patients’ vital signs from a distance of over six feet. Dr Spot is being touted as a way to safely triage potentially contagious COVID-19 patients.

In future, many diseases may be treated by tiny robots delivering drugs. Taking inspiration from white blood cells, researchers from the Max Planck Institute have unveiled a new micro-robot design that can move against the current of blood flow.

Tiny robots could one day deliver drugs inside our bodies, but there are still a few hurdles. Now researchers have developed corkscrew microrobots that drill into cancer while they deliver drugs, preventing them being washed away by fluids.

For years Boston Dynamics has developed increasingly sophisticated robots, but their potential uses haven't always been clear. Now, the company has revealed its Spot robot is being deployed in hospitals to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.

The line between robots and living organisms is beginning to blur. Researchers at the University of Vermont and Tufts University have now essentially created new creatures from frog cells, complete with programmable behaviors.