Robot Cleans Bathroom Sink

A robotic arm has mastered the surprisingly complex task of sink washing, showing off its ability to learn. With the help of an AI model trained in surgery videos, a robot system has successfully carried out difficult surgical tasks as skillfully as a human. Researchers decided to let their robotic arms learn to do the task by observing someone else doing it.

Researchers developed a cleaning sponge equipped with force and position sensors and had a person use it to clean just the front edge of a sink that had been sprayed with dyed gel imitating dirt. They then used the data to train a neural network and then fed those patterns to the robot and let them inform its movements as it sets out about the task.

More information:

https://newatlas.com/robotics/robot-cleans-sink/

Augmented Physics

With just an iPad, students in any classroom across the world could soon re-imagine the ordinary diagrams in any physics textbook transforming these static images into 3D simulations that run, leap or spin across the page. The tool relies on a model called Segment Anything from the tech company Meta. It’s a computer visualization tool that allows users to click on a photo to isolate particular objects (a dog, or maybe a face). Similarly, through Augmented Physics, students and teachers select various objects inside a diagram, such as the skier and the ski jump, and assign those objects roles. 

The AI then applies some basic physics, such as the force of gravity, to make those objects move. It works for several different kinds of diagrams, too. They include optics diagrams, so students can simulate how a prism refracts sunlight, for example, and electrical circuits, so they can see currents zip along wires. The team also designed its product with feedback from real students studying physics and with science teachers. The tool isn’t perfect yet and it can only turn a brand-new diagram into an effective simulation about 60% of the time. But the team is working to improve those success rates.

More information:

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/11/01/textbooks-come-alive-new-interactive-ai-tool

Wearable Robot for Paralyzed Individuals

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have introduced a wearable robot for paralyzed individuals. This innovative robot can walk to the user, allowing them to put it on directly from their wheelchairs without needing assistance from others. WalkON Suit is a wearable robot designed for individuals with paraplegia.

This robot is designed to assist individuals with the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale – A (complete paralysis) grade injuries, which represent the most severe level of paraplegia. Its development purpose differs from other rehabilitation therapy and muscle strength assisting robots currently supplied nationally by Angel Robotics.

More information:

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/wearable-robot-walks-fits-itself