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”.

4 days ago · 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Jun 5, 2025 · A new system enables a robot to “think ahead” and consider thousands of potential motion plans simultaneously, allowing the robot to solve a multistep problem in a few seconds.

Aug 9, 2024 · A new paper by MechE researchers published in the journal Science Robotics explores pick-and-place solutions with more precision. In precise pick-and-place, also known …

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, …

Jan 28, 2025 · MIT Associate Professor Luca Carlone works to give robots a more human-like perception of their environment, so they can interact with people safely and seamlessly.

May 13, 2025 · The robot consists of a heavy, 220-pound base whose dimensions and structure were optimized to support the weight of an average human without tipping or slipping. …