The Innovation Report
Fleet of Robots Successfully Tracks, Monitors Marine Microbes
After years of development and testing, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have successfully demonstrated that a fleet of autonomous robots can track and study...
Tiny Robots and Sensors Need Tiny Batteries
Computers, sensors and robots as small as a grain of salt are being developed that can move around, detect light, sound, pressure, chemicals and magnetic fields. Less than a millimetre across and a few hundred micrometres thick, they process information and...
Fish Robots Form Schools Like the Real Thing
Seven little bluebots gently swim around a darkened tank in a Harvard University lab, spying on one another with great big eyes made of cameras. They’re on the lookout for the two glowing blue LEDs fixed to the backs and bellies of their comrades, allowing the...
Best Driving Tech from CES 2021
CNET's Brian Cooley reports from the Virtual CES 2021: The scuttlebutt going into CES2021 was that it would be pretty tepid as a car show, but I think it delivered, considering it was all done on a virtual showfloor. Caterpillar showed one of its 285-ton mining dump...
Mobileye Announces Added AV Pilots
At the all-virtual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today, Intel subsidiary Mobileye announced four new locations where it plans to test its autonomous vehicle technologies. In a briefing with reporters, Mobileye cofounder Amnon Shashua revealed that Mobileye’s...
Norway: First Country Where Purchase of EVs Exceeds Other New Cars
The previous year, Norway became the first country with more than 50 percent electric cars among all new cars sold globally, beating cars with gasoline, hybrid and diesel engines combined, according to data released Tuesday by Norwegian Federation of Roads. Among the...
CA Stimulus Plan Includes $1.5B for Electric and Hydrogen Vehicles
The 2021 proposal, which Newsom previewed on Tuesday, includes $1.5 billion earmarked to help people and businesses purchase electric or hydrogen vehicles and equipment, and to invest in construction and maintenance of charging and fueling infrastructure,...
Self-repairing Ice Robots May Be Perfect for Exploring Other Planets
A major challenge when it comes to using robots to explore other planets is keeping them operating when there’s no way to repair them from Earth. Researchers at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania have conducted what they call very preliminary work on...
Robots in Air and Water Could Improve Shellfish Farming
Aquaculture is the world's fastest-growing animal-protein production sector, and the use of robots in many industries is growing quickly, as well. At North Carolina State University, researchers are finding ways to build on these trends to increase marine aquaculture...
U.S. Legislation Boosts AI Research
The National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (NAIIA) of 2020, which became law last week, aims to bolster AI activities at more than a dozen agencies. Its directives include a study of how to create a national research cloud that would build on CloudBank. It...
