The robotics team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute has three weeks before the finals of the DARPA Robotics Challenge to make their robot perform tasks twice as fast as it does today.
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.