What happens when a 14 year old Formula 1 enthusiast emails Mercedes-Benz asking for a contribution for a new 58 000 $ bionic arm? If Matthew James (from Woking , UK) serves as a reference: he gets it. Matthew was born missing part of his left arm and hand and is now the owner of a very advance
PR2 from Willow Garage is now able to help people with disabilities to perform everyday tasks such as manipulating objects shaving and more. The video below illustrates the scope and the results of the Robots for Humanity project that Willow Garage, the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech,
The Da Vinci surgical robot created by Intuitive Surgical is a 1.3M $ surgical robot that can conduct complex non invasive operations. This robot is incredibly precise and dexterous as you can see in the video below as it operates on humans and test dummies. We know that surgical interventions ar…
After defeating Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings at Jeopardy!, Watson, the robot by IMB, went on to become a physicians helper. What would be the most suitable job for a robot that can quickly search trough an immense database and find the answer to a question? We do not know. But diagnosing illnes
A paper presented by a group of computer engineers from Vanderbilt University at the Humanoids Conference in Nashville describes how robots can be used to diagnose and treat emergency room patients. Medical Droid from Star Wars While human would still take care of the most serious patient
Panasonic has a new robot dedicated to washing human heads. The idea is to use this robot in hospitals and with the elders. The robot is able to scan the head to be washed and plan the most optimal way to wash it. The video below shows more details on the robot and the washing process. http://ww
Octomag Eye Surgery Robot The Octomag, a giant but friendly electromagnets arrangement, is able to control a very small surgery robot with 5 DoF (degrees of freedom) in free space. This means that the tiny robot can be moved and rotated in free space in every possible way. It is capable o
Rex Robotic Exoskeleton Rex Bionics, a New Zealand company has developed a set of robotic legs that enables paraplegics to walk again. With the Rex robotic exoskeleton paraplegic can walk on hard surfaces, turn, go up the starts and more...for a 150 000 $ price-tag. Although the concept is
Georgia Tech has been developing a Lizard Robot that can bury itself under the sand (or a sand analogue) and navigate its way into hard to reach places. Very much like a sandfish, the robot is covered by a smooth skin (made out of sexy spandex) and can freely move its (aluminium) body segments
Robot Rodem is a new type of robotic mobile vehicle like a Segway because it can be controlled via body movements. It is mainly intended for people with disabilities and those elderly who are frail. But, it can also be used as an indoor vehicle for anyone. Rodem is steered either with a joysti…
A hospital in Scotland will be the first in the United Kingdom to be equipped with robots for staff. They will not carry out medical tasks but rather hospital staff chores. The Forth Valley Royal Hospital will welcome these new robotic employees who will carry food to rooms, be able to dispense…
Pierre Dupont's team at Boston University is in the process of developing a surgical robot which could be maneuvered in veins whilst also being harder than a catheter. The new technology called a "concentric tube robot" would have the flexibility of a catheter and the stiffness of a needle. The t…
Popsci has an interesting development in humanoid robots which can help people with autism to improve their daily lives with social interactions and communication in general. "Bandit" is a robot prototype designed to interact with autistic children. It is fitted with two video cameras in the ey…
The company, Bebionic, has just unveiled its new bionic robotic hand. It can do almost anything like a human hand (video below). Everything can be configured: speed, grip strength and estheticism. Its big advantage is that it's covered in silicone, giving it the impression of real skin. What's…
The bionic hand by the British company, Touch Bionics, is called i-Limb and its purpose is to replace the amputated limbs of people who have suffered accidents or injuries. The i-Limb Pulse is a revolutionary robotic hand-arm which can grab objects in a natural way. As well as shaking hands wit…
We told you in March about the DNA nanotubes against cancer, developed at McGill University in Montreal. This time the American researchers have developed robotic molecules capable of modifying DNA to repair damaged or flawed tissues, like small robotic spiders. The robot measures 4 nanometers …
