The word “robot” was coined by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a 1920 play called Rossum’s Universal Robots, and is derived from the Czech robota, meaning “drudgery” or “servitude”.

Apr 9, 2025 · A hopping, insect-sized robot can jump over gaps or obstacles, traverse rough, slippery, or slanted surfaces, and perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers, while using a fraction of the energy …

Mar 2, 2026 · New tool from MIT CSAIL creates realistic virtual kitchens and living rooms where simulated robots can interact with models of real-world objects, scaling up training data for robot …

May 13, 2025 · The robot consists of a heavy, 220-pound base whose dimensions and structure were optimized to support the weight of an average human without tipping or slipping. Underneath the …

Jul 24, 2025 · A vision-based control system called Neural Jacobian Fields enables soft and rigid robots to learn self-supervised motion control using only a monocular camera. The system, developed by …

Jul 23, 2025 · From R2D2 to the Terminator via Bender and Johnny-5, we choose our favourite robots from books, films and television series

Apr 2, 2025 · SPROUT is a flexible robot built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Notre Dame researchers to assist in disaster response. Emergency responders can use the robot to navigate and map areas …

Nov 5, 2025 · MIT researchers developed a powerful system that could help robots safely navigate unpredictable environments using only images captured from their onboard cameras.

Feb 19, 2026 · A built-in stability measure acts like a safeguard, so even as the robot adjusts during online adaptation, its behavior remains smooth and controlled. “Soft robots hold immense potential to …

Jun 5, 2025 · A new system enables a robot to “think ahead” and consider thousands of potential motion plans simultaneously, allowing the robot to solve a multistep problem in a few seconds.