What is a robot? - New Scientist
The word “robot” was coined by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in a 1920 play called Rossum’s Universal Robots, and is derived from the Czech robota, meaning “drudgery” or “servitude”.
Robotics | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nov 5, 2025 · Robot, know thyself: New vision-based system teaches machines to understand their bodies Neural Jacobian Fields, developed by MIT CSAIL researchers, can learn to control any robot …
Robot, know thyself: New vision-based system teaches machines to ...
Jul 24, 2025 · A vision-based control system called Neural Jacobian Fields enables soft and rigid robots to learn self-supervised motion control using only a monocular camera. The system, developed by …
Hopping gives this tiny robot a leg up - MIT News
Apr 9, 2025 · A hopping, insect-sized robot can jump over gaps or obstacles, traverse rough, slippery, or slanted surfaces, and perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers, while using a fraction of the energy …
Robotic system zeroes in on objects most relevant for helping humans ...
Apr 24, 2025 · MIT roboticists developed a way to cut through data noise and help robots focus on the features in a scene that are most relevant for assisting humans. The system could be used in smart …
A flexible robot can help emergency responders search through rubble
Apr 2, 2025 · SPROUT is a flexible robot built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Notre Dame researchers to assist in disaster response. Emergency responders can use the robot to navigate and map areas …
Robotic pigeon reveals how birds fly without a vertical tail fin
Nov 20, 2024 · A pigeon-inspired robot has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tail fins that human-designed aircraft rely on. Its makers say the prototype could eventually lead to …
Can robots learn from machine dreams? - MIT News
Nov 19, 2024 · LucidSim is an AI-powered simulator that trained a robot dog to perform parkour using generated images without any real-world data. This approach, from MIT CSAIL researchers, scales …
This fast and agile robotic insect could someday aid in mechanical ...
Jan 15, 2025 · New insect-scale microrobots can fly more than 100 times longer than previous versions. The new bots, also significantly faster and more agile, could someday be used to pollinate fruits and …
Helping robots practice skills independently to adapt to unfamiliar ...
Aug 8, 2024 · A robot rapidly specializes its skills using parameter policy learning, where the machine can rapidly specialize at specific, smaller actions within a long-horizon task. The MIT CSAIL …