Proteins were made in a laboratory by a completely autonomous robot.Credit: Panther Media GmbH/Alamy A'self-driving' laboratory comprising robotic equipment directed by a simple artificial intelligence (AI) model successfully reengineered enzymes without any input from humans -- save for the occasional hardware fix. "It is cutting-edge work," says Héctor García Martín, a physicist and synthetic biologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. "They are fully automating the whole process of protein engineering." Self-driving labs meld robotic equipment with machine-learning models capable of directing experiments and interpreting results to design new procedures. The hope, say researchers, is that autonomous labs will turbo-charge the scientific process and come up with solutions that humans might not have thought of on their own.

British department store Selfridges has recruited an 8 foot-tall'upcycling' robot that can 3D-print recycled plastic into personalised designer objects. At Selfridges' store at Oxford Street in central London, the robot will be printing items made of plastic taken from the world's seas. It's creating a variety of designer objects from the plastic, including vases, chairs, stools and lampshades, which can be selected and bought by customers. The items have been designed by Nagami, a Spanish firm specialising in high-end furniture and homeware. The Selfridges' robot is 3D-printing the items through the rest of April, which cost anything from £155 to £830.

We featured 10 startups in our earlier post. Here are five more startups that are in in the vanguard of turning AI into a value-adding technology for construction sites. APE Mobile is on a mission to make construction easier by using disruptive technology to make the complex simple and arm contractors with the information they need. They are now adding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities to bring the user answers when and where they need them. "Ask a question and it gives you answers, instantly.

When Built Robotics emerged out of stealth in October 2017, the company's self-driving excavators had completed a couple simple projects that included digging and moving dirt at a community garden and a California mountain bike trail. Since then, giant autonomous robots have been deployed on large commercial projects, such as digging the foundations for wind farms. The technology has also expanded to include bulldozers and skid steers, in addition to excavators. Today Built announced a $33 million Series B led by Next47, the new global venture fund backed by Siemens. This brings the company's total funding to $48 million.

When Built Robotics emerged out of stealth in October 2017, the company's self-driving excavators had completed a couple simple projects that included digging and moving dirt at a community garden and a California mountain bike trail. Since then, giant autonomous robots have been deployed on large commercial projects, such as digging the foundations for wind farms. The technology has also expanded to include bulldozers and skid steers, in addition to excavators. Today Built announced a $33 million Series B led by Next47, the new global venture fund backed by Siemens. This brings the company's total funding to $48 million.