Robotics | Penn Today

A microscopic robot on a U.S. penny for scale.

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The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots

Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.

Dancing robot is the size of a grain of salt

Marc Miskin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues have designed a swarm of fully autonomous, sub-millimeter-sized robots.

World’s smallest programmable robots think, swim, and sense temperature using light

Researchers in Penn Engineering have unveiled the world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots

Ghost Robotics’ arm brings manipulation to military quadrupeds

Ghost Robotics, which originated at the GRASP Lab at Penn, specializes in exceptionally rugged quadrupeds.

Helping robots work together to explore the Moon and Mars

Penn Engineers, NASA, and five other universities tested robotic systems designed to help unmanned explorers cooperate in the dunes of White Sands, New Mexico, paving the way for Moon and Mars exploration.

5 min. read

This robot uses Japanese tradition and AI for sashimi that lasts longer and is more humane

Alumnus Saif Khawaja is part of a startup team using AI and robotics to make sashimi and other fish dishes that taste better, last longer, and are more humane.

A simulation of the mathematics of a bee colony.

Teaching robots to build without blueprints

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed mathematical rules to simulate robots who behave like bees, building complex shapes without instructions, pointing to a new manufacturing frontier inspired by nature.

2 min. read

After high-profile derailments, this founder turned his engineering skills toward improving rail safety

In a Q&A, Penn alumnus Tejas Agarwal discusses his work at Pennovation and the founding of his railroad infrastructure company, Sahay AI.

World’s most adaptable robot swarm builds without plans, blueprints, or coordination

Mark Yim and Jordan Raney of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues have developed a swarm strategy that allows tiny robots to self-assemble into honeycomb-like structures by reacting to what’s around them.

Robots in the reading room: GRASP Lab brings hands-on STEM to Roxborough

Now in its third year, a partnership between GRASP and the Roxborough Library called Fun with Robots introduces robotics to kids through workshops led by Penn Engineering graduate students.

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