Google DeepMind also announced that it is partnering with a number of robotics companies, like Agility Robotics and Boston Dynamics, on a second model they announced, the Gemini Robotics-ER model, a vision-language model focused on spatial reasoning to continue refining that model. "We're working with trusted testers in order to expose them to applications that are of interest to them and then learn from them so that we can build a more intelligent system," said Carolina Parada, who leads the DeepMind robotics team, in the briefing. Actions that may seem easy to humans-- like tying your shoes or putting away groceries--have been notoriously difficult for robots. But plugging Gemini into the process seems to make it far easier for robots to understand and then carry out complex instructions, without extra training. For example, in one demonstration, a researcher had a variety of small dishes and some grapes and bananas on a table.

Common crops, like wheat or maize, could be genetically altered to be brightly coloured to make it easier for weeding robots to do their job, suggest researchers. Weeding reduces the need for herbicides, but the artificial intelligence models that power weeding robots can struggle to differentiate between crops and weeds that are a similar shape and colour. To get round this problem, Pedro Correia at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and his colleagues have suggested that crop genomes could be adapted to express pigments such as anthocyanins, which make blueberries blue, or carotenoids, which make carrots orange. Crops could also be grown to have unusually shaped leaves or to have characteristics that are invisible to the naked eye but detectable by sensors, such as in the infrared spectrum, they say. Correia says AI's struggles with weeding could be exacerbated as wild species are adapted for agriculture to capitalise on their abilities to cope with a changing climate.

Robots are all around us, from drones filming videos in the sky to serving food in restaurants and diffusing bombs in emergencies. Slowly but surely, robots are improving the quality of human life by augmenting our abilities, freeing up time, and enhancing our personal safety and well-being. While existing robots are becoming more proficient with simple tasks, handling more complex requests will require more development in both mobility and intelligence. Columbia Engineering and Toyota Research Institute computer scientists are delving into psychology, physics, and geometry to create algorithms so that robots can adapt to their surroundings and learn how to do things independently. This work is vital to enabling robots to address new challenges stemming from an aging society and provide better support, especially for seniors and people with disabilities.

The'smart skin' is like a fabric that contains sensors that recognize crucial indications of a human as well as airborne chemicals. Envisioned for a range of applications from baby monitoring to warfare, smart skin applications are expected to grow exponentially in the future. After nearly six years of research at the Technical University of Graz, Italian-born Anna Maria Coclite has developed the'smart skin' for the next generation of artificial intelligence materials. It senses pressure, humidity, and temperature all the while and produces electronic signs. More delicate robots or more AI prostheses will be consequently possible.

When most of us pick up an object, we don't have to think about how to orient it in our hand. It's something that comes naturally to us as we learn to navigate the world. That's something that allows young children to be more deft with their hands than even the most advanced robots available today. But that could quickly change. A team of scientists from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has developed a system that could one day give robots that same kind of dexterity.

Robots have eyes, arms and can react to stimuli. In movies, as well as in real-life applications, they are designed with human features, making them more similar to us. But does it make sense to include anthropomorphisms in all of them? A study in engineering psychology conducted by Technische Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin investigated the extent of the use of human-like features in robots. The study shows that human characteristics do not always have beneficial impacts.

Soft, edible robots that mimic real organisms could be used to deliver drugs to animals. That is just one potential application of a new material made from biodegradable gel. "The question is, could we develop a material that is, at the same time, very reliable while you use it, but once triggered can completely degrade?" says Martin Kaltenbrunner at Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria. Kaltenbrunner and his colleagues created a gel out of ingredients that are safe to eat, including gelatine – which can be fully degraded by the body – citric acid to stop bacterial growth and glycerol for softness and to prevent dehydration. The biogel is designed to be eaten by bacteria commonly found in waste water, meaning it will break down naturally if it ends up in landfill, for instance, but remain stable otherwise.

Sphero, the company behind robotic toys like the BB-8 robot and educational robotics kits, announced today that it's spinning its public safety division into a new company, dubbed Company Six. It plans to commercialize robots and AI software for first responders, government, defense and "those who work in dangerous situations." While Sphero didn't say that Company Six will make robots for police, it sounds like the new company could be headed in that direction. "Our team is excited to build critically-needed robotic hardware and advanced software solutions that help first responders and people with dangerous jobs," said Company Six CEO Jim Booth, formerly Sphero's COO. Sphero has brought four million robots to market, including programmable tank robots, and it's experience in mobility could come in handy.

During a recent visit to Alphabet's X lab, I drained my coffee and left the compostable cup on a tray marked "Cans & Bottles." The transgression was soon mended. Twenty minutes later, a wheeled, one-armed, chest-high robot whirred along and inspected the cup with the 3D cameras inside its flattened head. Its arm reached out and used two sturdy yellow fingers to move the misplaced cup onto the adjacent green tray labeled "Compostables." The trash-literate robot--part of a project called Everyday Robot--has been in development for years, but X just began discussing it publicly.

Humans have a weird relationship with robots, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. We're simultaneously delighted and appalled by their capabilities and autonomy. When we see what the latest inventions can do to make our lives easier, we immediately hear a voice in the back of our mind: "Great, but how long before it betrays us all?" Having those concerns is normal, but it doesn't have to be that way. Madeline Gannon, known as the'robot tamer,' is a designer who explores our relationships with robots.