News Release
The Top 10 robotics technologies of 2018, according to Science Robotics
 Henrik Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute at UC San Diego, co-authored an editorial on the top 10 robotics technologies of 2018 in Science Robotics. |
San Diego, Calif., Jan. 16, 2019 --Henrik Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute at the Jacobs School is one of 10 of the world’s foremost robotics researchers to weigh in on the top 10 robotics technologies of 2018 in the Jan. 16 issue of Science Robotics.
“The technologies and developments [range] from original research that may change the future of robotics to commercial products that enable basic science and drive industrial and medical innovations,” the researchers write.
Below are the technologies, in the order they are listed in the editorial.
First up: BostonDynamics' Atlas doing parkour: https://youtu.be/LikxFZZO2sk "Boston Dynamics remains the masters of robotics balance and propulsion," the researchers say.
Next, Intuitive Surgery’s da Vinci SP platform: https://www.intuitive.com/en/products-and-services/da-vinci/systems/sp "Intuitive Surgical continues to push the boundaries of surgical robotics," says the editorial.
A soft robot that navigates through growth from Stanford and UC Santa Barabara: https://youtu.be/6FnqLz2GcFw "This brilliant design idea addresses several grand challenges in robotics and exemplifies the use of bioinspired design."
3D-printed liquid crystal elastomers for soft robotics from Harvard’s Wyss Institute and the Air Force Research Lab https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.201706164 "This publication shows how the elastomers can be fabricated with 3D printing."
Muscle-mimetic, self-healing & hydraulically amplified actuators from the University of Colorado Boulder: https://youtu.be/-TKjJBZEZe4 "Remarkably, this actuator is able to lift more than 200 times its weight."
A self-assembled nanoscale robot from DNA from German researchers: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6373/296 "These nanoscale robotic systems can be used in parallel for electrically driven transport of molecules or nanoparticles overs 10s of nanometers or more."
The DelFly nimble, bioinspired robotic flapper from French researchers: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1073/tab-figures-data "We consider it a paradigmatic example of science for robotics and robotics for science."
A soft exosuit wearable robot from Harvard’s Wyss Institute: https://biodesign.seas.harvard.edu/soft-exosuits "A lightweight, stretchy exosuit offers new ways of integrating fabric design, sensing, robotic control and actuation to increase a wearer's strength, balance and endurance."
Universal_Robot's e-Series cobots: https://www.universal-robots.com/e-series/ "With enhanced safety features and force/torque sensing, we expect to see more intelligent human-robot interactions in a diverse range of environments."
Sony's aibo: https://us.aibo.com "The robot has been developed with Sony's increasing awareness of the role robots can play in childhood learning or as a companion for the aged, particularly those with neurodegenerative diseases."
Media Contacts
Ioana Patringenaru
Jacobs School of Engineering
858-822-0899
ipatrin@ucsd.edu