actuators
22 articles about actuators in AI news
Clone Robotics CEO Critiques Motor Reliance, Touts Fluid-Actuated Humanoids
Clone Robotics CEO Dhanush Radhakrishnan criticizes the industry's reliance on motors and rigid structures, advocating for fluid actuation and Myofiber artificial muscles to achieve more human-like movement.
ROKAE's AR Robotic Arms Achieve ±1mm Force Control for Needle Threading
ROKAE has demonstrated its augmented reality (AR)-guided robotic arms repeatedly threading a needle, showcasing ±1 mm force-controlled precision. This capability targets high-precision tasks in electronics assembly and micro-manufacturing.
MindOn's Unitree G1 Robot Performs Household Tasks Fully Autonomously
AI startup MindOn released a demo of a Unitree G1 humanoid robot performing household tasks like picking up scattered items fully autonomously. The demo highlights rapid progress in applying large models to real-world robot control.
Neo 1X Humanoid Robot Shown at Abundance Summit, Weighs Under 70 lbs
Neo 1X, a sub-70-pound humanoid robot designed for homes, was shown moving and interacting with people at the Abundance Summit. This demo highlights a growing industry focus on creating robots for safe cohabitation with families.
Humanoid Robot Deployed for Traffic Control in Shenzhen, China
A humanoid robot equipped with cameras and AI has been deployed to direct traffic at a busy intersection in Shenzhen, China. This represents a real-world test of embodied AI for public infrastructure management.
EngineAI PM01 Humanoid Falls During Filming, Demonstrates Manual Push-Recovery Mode
During a CGTN news crew filming, the EngineAI PM01 humanoid robot was lightly kicked before its push-recovery mode was active, causing it to fall. Operators manually activated the system, after which the robot recovered smoothly.
Maker 'Sword Man' Builds 5,000 kg Real-Time Motion-Tracking Robotic Hand
A Chinese maker known as Sword Man has constructed a massive 5,000 kg robotic hand from scratch. It uses a motion-tracking glove to perfectly mimic the operator's hand movements in real-time.
China's First Fully Automated Humanoid Robot Factory Goes Live in Foshan, Targets 10,000+ Units Annually
China's first fully automated humanoid robot production line has launched in Foshan, capable of building one complete robot every ~30 minutes. The facility aims for over 10,000 units per year, with five more sites planned.
Elon Musk Claims Tesla Optimus Will Surpass Human Surgeons by 2029, Advises Against Medical School
Elon Musk stated Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will outperform any human surgeon at scale within three years, calling medical school 'pointless.' He predicts universal access to superior medical care within five years.
Aletta Robot Uses AI & Ultrasound to Fully Automate Blood Draws
Aletta is a robotic system that automates the entire blood draw process, using ultrasound to locate veins, position the arm, collect the sample, and apply a bandage. This addresses a critical bottleneck in healthcare by reducing failed sticks and freeing up clinical staff.
Columbia's Truss Links Robots Self-Assemble and Cannibalize for Parts, Achieving 66.5% Mobility Gain
Columbia University researchers demonstrated 'Truss Links' robots that autonomously self-assemble using magnetic connectors, then selectively disassemble other robots to harvest parts for repair or growth. The system achieved a 66.5% mobility improvement through this zero-waste physical adaptation.
Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock Demonstrates Figure 03 Robot in Live Interview, Showcasing Real-World Mobility
Figure AI CEO Brett Adcock brought a Figure 03 humanoid robot to an in-person interview for a live demonstration. The event highlights the company's push for real-world validation and public visibility of its flagship platform.
Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot Spotted Navigating NYC Streets, Interacting with Public
A Unitree G1 humanoid robot was filmed autonomously navigating sidewalks and interacting with children in New York City, showcasing significant progress in real-world mobility and human-robot interaction.
Ethan Mollick: AI's Real Economic Impact Will Be in Robotics, Not Just White-Collar Work
Wharton professor Ethan Mollick argues that while AI is transforming knowledge work, the true economic revolution will occur when AI-powered robots transform the physical economy, echoing past industrial shifts.
AgentComm-Bench Exposes Catastrophic Failure Modes in Cooperative Embodied AI Under Real-World Network Conditions
Researchers introduce AgentComm-Bench, a benchmark that stress-tests multi-agent embodied AI systems under six real-world network impairments. It reveals performance drops of over 96% in navigation and 85% in perception F1, highlighting a critical gap between lab evaluations and deployable systems.
AheadFrom Unveils 'Scary Human' Robotic Face with Advanced AI Animation
AheadFrom has revealed a new robotic face with AI-driven animation that users describe as 'scary human.' The system uses real-time AI to generate facial expressions and lip-syncing.
ByteDance, Tsinghua & Peking U Introduce HACPO: Heterogeneous Agent Collaborative RL Method for Cross-Agent Experience Sharing
Researchers from ByteDance, Tsinghua, and Peking University developed HACPO, a collaborative reinforcement learning method where heterogeneous AI agents share experiences during training. This approach improves individual agent performance by 15-40% on benchmark tasks compared to isolated training.
RAI's Ringbot: A Monocycle Robot Uses Internal Legs for Balance and Acrobatics
The Robotics and AI Institute (RAI) has developed Ringbot, a monocycle robot that uses internal legs for dynamic balance and acrobatic maneuvers. This novel design challenges conventional wheeled and legged robot architectures.
Microscopic Motor Rotors Enable Untethered Micro-Robotics, Smaller Than a Fingerprint
Researchers have developed a microscopic motor rotor smaller than a fingerprint, using 4 magnets and 4 coils to eliminate power leashes. This enables autonomous flight and diving for micro-drones.
OpenClaw Enables Natural Language Control for Drones and Humanoid Robots via Open-Source Framework
OpenClaw, an open-source framework, now allows developers to control drones and humanoid robots using natural language commands. The system integrates with physical sensors like cameras and lidar to build multi-agent systems.
ORCA Dexterity Open-Sources Three 3D-Printable Robotic Hands with Self-Dislocating Joints for ~$2,200
ORCA Dexterity released STL files for three tendon-driven anthropomorphic robotic hands featuring self-dislocating joints for reliability. The OrcaHand Touch variant includes high-resolution fingertip sensors with 83 taxels per fingertip at 1mm resolution.
Ambidextrous AI-Powered Robotic Hand Achieves Human-Like Dexterity and Beyond
ChangingTek Robotics has developed a revolutionary robotic hand that can switch between left and right configurations, bend in reverse, and exceed human degrees of freedom. The tendon-driven system achieves joint speeds of 230° per second while handling diverse objects from wrenches to drinks.