When the company wanted a team of roboticists, it raided a university lab to get them. Can high-tech academia survive today’s Silicon Valley talent binge?
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.