IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Italian Chapter (I-RAS)

A new paper finds that artificial intelligence has the potential to upend the foundations of nuclear deterrence by the year 2040. While AI-controlled doomsday machines are considered unlikely, the hazards of artificial intelligence for nuclear security lie instead in its potential to encourage humans to take potentially apocalyptic risks, according to the paper.

Engineers discovered that tiny crystal lattices called 'self-assembling molecular nanosheets' expand when exposed to light. The advancement could form the backbone of new light-powered actuators, oscillators and other microscopic electronic components useful in the development of artificial muscles and other soft robotic systems.

If Star Wars' R2-D2 is your idea of a robot, think again. Researchers have reported a new class of soft robot, composed of ultrathin sensing, actuating electronics and temperature-sensitive artificial muscle that can adapt to the environment and crawl, similar to the movement of an inchworm or caterpillar.

Engineers have developed a robot that can identify, collect, and manipulate two-dimensional nanocrystals. The robot stacked nanocrystals to form the most complex van der Waals heterostructure produced to date, with much less human intervention than the manual operations previously used to produce van der Waals heterostructures. This robot allows unprecedented access to van der Waals heterostructures, which are attractive for use in advanced electronics.

To overcome the material rigidity and actuation limitations in current robotic systems, a joint US Army Research Laboratory and University of Minnesota research project sought inspiration from invertebrates.

Researchers continue to develop new antenna measurement methods, this time for future 5G wireless communications systems.

Researchers have developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art.

Using a tiny array of electrodes implanted in the brain's somatosensory cortex, scientists have induced sensations of touch and movement in the hand and arm of a paralyzed man.

Developments in artificial intelligence may help us to predict the probability of life on other planets. The study uses artificial neural networks (ANNs) to classify planets into five types, estimating a probability of life in each case, which could be used in future interstellar exploration missions.

Scientists describe how kirigami has inspired its efforts to build malleable electronic circuits. Their innovation -- creating tiny sheets of strong yet bendable electronic materials made of select polymers and nanowires -- could lead to improvements in smart clothing, electronic skin and other applications that require pliable circuitry.

A smartphone application using the phone's camera function performed better than traditional physical examination to assess blood flow in a wrist artery for patients undergoing coronary angiography, according to a randomized trial.

Computer scientists have developed a system that can translate a wide variety of 3-D shapes into stitch-by-stitch instructions that enable a computer-controlled knitting machine to automatically produce those shapes.

In the natural world, intelligence takes many forms. It could be a bat using echolocation to expertly navigate in the dark, or an octopus adapting its behavior to survive in the deep ocean. Likewise, in the computer science world, multiple forms of artificial intelligence are emerging. Cognitive neuroscientists are using those emerging networks to enhance understanding of one of the most elusive intelligence systems, the human brain.

A short electric pulse is all it takes to generate and release a powerful vacuum in the blink of an eye. The novel vacuum gripper enables robot arms to pick up objects and move them around freely in space. The system works without the need for compressed air to generate the vacuum, it is energy efficient, quiet and suitable for use in clean rooms.

When it comes to fighting substance abuse, research suggests the company you keep can make the difference between recovery and relapse. Researchers have created an algorithm that sorts intervention program participants -- who are voluntarily working on recovery -- into smaller groups, or subgroups, in a way that maintains helpful social connections and breaks social connections that could be detrimental to recovery.

Researchers have developed a new technique based on artificial intelligence and machine learning that should enable clinicians to acquire high-quality images from limited data.

A new article proposes that artificial intelligence tools, such as machine learning algorithms, have the potential for building predictive models for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases linked to imbalances in gut microbial communities, or microbiota.

A pair of autonomous robots will soon be driving through miles of pipes at the US Department of Energy's former uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio, to identify uranium deposits on pipe walls.

Recent developments in neuroscience set high requirements for sophisticated data management, not least when implantable Brain Machine Interfaces are used to establish electronic communication between the brain's nerve cells and computers. A new method makes it possible to recode neural signals into a format that computer processors can use instantly.

Chinese scientists and clinicians have developed a learning artificial intelligence system which can diagnose and identify cancerous prostate samples as accurately as any pathologist. This holds out the possibility of streamlining and eliminating variation in the process of cancer diagnosis. It may also help overcome any local shortage of trained pathologists. In the longer term it may lead to automated or partially automated prostate cancer diagnosis.