11/15
Robotics
When robots touch the world
Penn Engineering’s Michael Posa discusses robotics in the age of artificial intelligence, the ambulatory genius of toddlers, navigating the unfamiliar and the elegance of not learning everything.
People and Places at Penn: Makerspaces
People and Places at Penn: Makerspaces
Hands-on learning fosters creativity, creates opportunities for collaboration, and feels good. Education Commons, the Precision Machining Laboratory, and Tangen Hall all offer space for students to get their hands dirty.
Who, What, Why: Devin Carroll and his robot made of tree branches
Who, What, Why: Devin Carroll and his robot made of tree branches
Ph.D. student Devin Carroll designs robots from materials found in nature; his latest modular device is made of tree branches, strings, and a motor.
Soft robots gain new strength
Soft robots gain new strength
Penn Engineers have developed a clutch 63 times stronger than current electroadhesive clutches, making soft robots stronger and safer and making virtual reality gloves feel more real.
A relief wall that’s a window onto architecture’s future
A relief wall that’s a window onto architecture’s future
A public library relief wall is a novel approach to architectural design and robotic fabrication from the Weitzman School and the Robotics Lab.
People and places at Penn: Research
People and places at Penn: Research
From Charles Addams Fine Arts Hall to the Schuylkill River, four researchers share their science and their spaces.
Tiny swimming robots can restructure materials on a microscopic level
Tiny swimming robots can restructure materials on a microscopic level
Penn Engineers are working to make controlling microscopic processes, such as transporting drugs to tumors for precise therapies, faster, safer, and more reliable through the use of microrobots.
A robot made of sticks
A robot made of sticks
Devin Carroll, a doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, is designing a modular robot called StickBot, which may be adapted for rehabilitation use in global public health settings.
3D printing drones work like bees to build and repair structures while flying
3D printing drones work like bees to build and repair structures while flying
Researchers including Weitzman’s Robert Stuart-Smith have made a swarm of bee-inspired drones that can collectively 3D print material while in flight, allowing unbounded manufacturing for building and repairing structures.
Deploying microrobotics for dental treatments and diagnostics
Deploying microrobotics for dental treatments and diagnostics
Penn Dental Medicine and its Center for Innovation & Precision Dentistry show that microrobots can access the difficult to reach surfaces of the root canal with controlled precision.
In the News
Interesting Engineering
Superhuman vision lets robots see through walls, smoke with new LiDAR-like eyes
Mingmin Zhao of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and colleagues are using radio signals to allow robots to “see” beyond traditional sensor limits.
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The Architect’s Newspaper
A sculptural foam installation demonstrates the promise of a new technology-focused degree at Penn
Graduate students in a new robotics and fabrication program at the Weitzman School of Design, under the guidance of Andrew Saunders, have installed a large-scale sculptural wall in the atrium of the Middletown, Pennsylvania, Free Library.
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Technical.ly Philly
These Philly profs working on VR education, deepfake spotters, and tiny robots make predictions for next-gen tech
Mark Miskin of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is using tools from the semiconductor industry to develop nanotechnologies for microscopic robots.
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Technical.ly Philly
Artists and Penn Ph.D.s collabed to explore the intersection of art and engineering. Check out their exhibit
In the culminating project of Penn’s Robotics Art Residency, three artists hosted at the Pennovation Center developed collaborative exhibits with Ph.D. students at the GRASP Lab of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Weitzman School of Design.
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Physics World
Liquid crystals bring robotics to the microscale
In collaboration with the University of Ljubljana, Kathleen Stebe of the School of Engineering and Applied Science has built a swimming microrobot that paddles by rotating liquid crystal molecules.
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The New York Times
The long road to driverless trucks
Steve Viscelli of the School of Arts & Sciences comments on the complexities and uncertainties of the emerging self-driving truck industry.
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