The UCLA has a graduate-level program focused on teaching architects how to design intelligent robotic buildings. These buildings would be able to change their configuration to adapt to their owners’ needs.
Robots clean rivers and sort waste, monitor ecosystems, and inspect renewable-energy infrastructure. But even the greenest robot has an environmental footprint.
EPFL engineers have designed acoustic cavities that convert sound waves into thrust, propelling small robots and ultralight aerial vehicles without on-board actuators or electronics.