“The Morning Briefing” is SmartPlanet’s daily roundup of must-reads from the web. This morning we’re reading about the robotics industry.
1.) Soft autonomous robot inches along like an earthworm. Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm.
2.) Disruptions: Dining with robots in Silicon Valley. Millions of people watched a robot descend last week on Mars, about 154 million miles away, while it shared video, photos and status updates from its own Twitter account. The author had their own encounter with a robot last week — having dinner with one.
3.) MIT robot plane deletes the pilot. When the robots come for you, at least they won’t scratch the walls. MIT research into autonomous flight has delivered a robotic plane that can thread its way, at speed, through enclosed and indoor conditions, without requiring preconfigured flight plans or GPS navigation.
4.) Robot prostatectomy cuts incontinence, surgeon finds. Robot surgery for prostate cancer lowered the rate of urinary complications compared with hands-on surgery in a new Italian study.
5.) Baby’s first robot: An automated bouncer to lull and entertain your tot. As if simply entering the world wasn’t already engaging enough, 4moms, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company founded by Carnegie Mellon robotics engineers, is introducing babies to the realm of gadgets.
Image credit: MIT
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