MIT’s AI Robotics Lab Director Is Building People-Centered Robots
Daniela Rus has spent her career breaking barriers—scientific, social, and material—in her quest to build machines that amplify rather than replace human capability. She made robotics her life’s work, she says, because she understood it was a way to expand the possibilities of computing while enhancing human capabilities.“I like to think of robotics as a…
Modular Acoustic Graph SLAM for Underwater Monitoring With Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
This work was developed under the need for an acoustic localization system to monitor marine protected areas (MPAs) with the help of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Although the use of acoustic signals for underwater localization has been previously studied, most of the solutions rely on filter-based optimization, which is prone to linearization problems in long-term…
Dual-Agent-Based Robotic Ultrasound Path Planning and Interaction Control in External-Vision-Independent Environments
Ultrasound imaging has emerged as a crucial tool for the diagnosis and navigation of spinal diseases. However, high-quality image acquisition heavily relies on experienced sonographers, which restricts its further popularization. In this paper, a robotic system designed for automated spinal ultrasound scanning is proposed. Drawing inspiration from the spinal anatomy and the actions of seasoned…
Vision-Based Autonomous Robotic Arc Welding: State-of-the-Art Review and Perspectives
Robotic welding is an essential technology in industrial production. Various sensors are integrated into robotic welding systems to enhance welding efficiency and quality. Due to their advantages of non-contact measurement, high information capacity, and high accuracy, vision sensors play an increasingly important role in robotic autonomous welding. Therefore, the latest vision-based autonomous robotic arc welding…
A Platform-Centric Framework for Intelligent Parking Traffic Prediction and Resource Optimization in Shared AVPC Systems
To address the challenges posed by uncertainties in the parking behaviors of private owners and temporary users, as well as the complexities involved in integrating shared parking with Electric Vehicle (EV)-charging, this paper proposes a novel platform-centric intelligent framework for shared Automated Valet Parking and Charging (AVPC) systems. The framework leverages Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)…
Robot Navigates Tough Terrain With New 3D Mapping Technique
This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore.Four-legged robots are making great strides in their ability to safely traverse complex terrains. In a recent advance, researchers in Hong Kong have developed a novel mapping model for quadrupedal robots that allows them to autonomously crawl under and leap…
Video Friday: A Billion Dollars for Humanoid Robots
Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.ACTUATE 2025: 23–24 September 2025, SAN FRANCISCOCoRL 2025: 27–30 September 2025, SEOULIEEE Humanoids: 30 September–2 October…
Adaptive Excavation Automation in Complex Soil Environments Using Reinforcement Learning
This paper presents an advanced excavation automation framework that improves trajectory efficiency and improves operational stability in diverse and complex soil conditions. The framework integrates the fundamental equation of earthmoving (FEE) with the proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm to enable adaptive trajectory planning during excavation. Using these estimates, the PPO algorithm iteratively optimizes excavation strategies…
BagIt! An Adaptive Dual-Arm Manipulation of Fabric Bags for Object Bagging
Bagging tasks, commonly found in industrial scenarios, are challenging considering deformable bags’ complicated and unpredictable nature. This letter presents an automated bagging system from the proposed adaptive Structure-of-Interest (SOI) manipulation strategy for dual robot arms. The system dynamically adjusts its actions based on real-time visual feedback, removing the need for pre-existing knowledge of bag properties.…
High-Efficiency Vector Field by Time-Optimal Spatial Iterative Learning
This article presents a novel model-free spatial iterative learning (IL) framework to enhance the efficiency of vector field (VF) navigation for mobile robots. By integrating the idea of iterative learning control (ILC) control with VF, this framework utilizes historical data to enhance navigation efficiency significantly, reducing traversal time and expanding the applicability of IL to…