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

Bloodhounds are famous for their ability to track scents over great distances. Now researchers have developed a modern-day bloodhound -- a robot that can rapidly detect odors from sources on the ground, such as footprints. The robot could even read a message written on the ground using odors as a barcode.

System enables people to correct robot mistakes on multi-choice problems.

The same researchers, who last year designed a tiny computer chip tailored to help honeybee-sized drones navigate, have now shrunk their chip design even further, in both size and power consumption.

A new study demonstrates that with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, it is possible not only to accurately sort sick cardiac cell cultures from healthy ones, but also to differentiate between genetic cardiac diseases.

Scientists have recently designed the first neurosurgical robotic system capable of performing bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery inside a magnetic resonance imaging ('MRI') scanner.

Engineers have created soft, 3D-printed structures whose movements can be controlled with a wave of a magnet, much like marionettes without the strings. The menagerie of structures that can be magnetically manipulated includes a smooth ring that wrinkles up, a long tube that squeezes shut, a sheet that folds itself, and a spider-like 'grabber' that can crawl, roll, jump, and snap together fast enough to catch a passing ball.

Researchers have created an automated blood drawing and testing device that provides rapid results, potentially improving the workflow in hospitals and other health-related institutions to allow health care practitioners to spend more time treating patients.

Scientists have developed software that can look minutes into the future: The program learns the typical sequence of actions, such as cooking, from video sequences. Then it can predict in new situations what the chef will do at which point in time.

A new wireless smart-home system could help detect and monitor disease and enable the elderly to 'age in place.'

A new system can detect and analyze molecules without the need for an infrared spectrometer. The system uses nanostructured metapixels to detect and then translate molecules' unique signatures into bar codes. The technology can be integrated into a compact sensor chip. It opens the door to large-scale image-based detection of materials using machine-learning technology.

Photographs that are automatically collected by motion-sensor cameras can be automatically described by deep neural networks. The result is a system that can automate animal identification for up to 99.3 percent of images while still performing at the same 96.6 percent accuracy rate of crowdsourced teams of human volunteers.

Engineers have created a novel actuating material that can be powered by visible light, electricity, and other stimuli, and which may replace traditional bulky motors and pneumatic actuators with ones similar to mammalian skeletal muscles in the future.

Researchers have devised a magnetic control system to make tiny DNA-based robots move on demand -- and much faster than recently possible.

Researchers have developed an artificial nervous system that could give prosthetic limbs or robots reflexes and the ability to sense touch.

Engineers have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids.

Researchers have drawn inspiration from birds to design an aerial robot capable of altering its profile during flight. To reduce its wingspan and navigate through tight spaces, it can reorient its arms, which are equipped with propellers that let it fly like a helicopter. It paves the way for a new generation of large robots that can move through narrow passages, making them ideal for exploration as well as search and rescue missions.

Researchers have developed a novel method of growing whole muscles from hydrogel sheets impregnated with myoblasts. They then incorporated these muscles as antagonistic pairs into a biohybrid robot, which successfully performed manipulations of objects. This approach overcame earlier limitations of a short functional life of the muscles and their ability to exert only a weak force, paving the way for more advanced biohybrid robots.

Engineers have developed a machine-learning and AI-powered algorithm to predict the onset of epileptic seizures.

Recently, computer scientists have been working on teaching machines to do a wider range of tasks around the house. Researchers demonstrate 'VirtualHome,' a system that can simulate detailed household tasks and then have artificial 'agents' execute them, opening up the possibility of one day teaching robots to do such tasks.

EPFL scientists have found a fast and simple way to make super-elastic, multi-material, high-performance fibers. Their fibers have already been used as sensors on robotic fingers and in clothing. This breakthrough method opens the door to new kinds of smart textiles and medical implants.