A study that asked children to assess three different robots showed that they responded most positively to simple robots shaped like flower pots, and were most sceptical of Pepper the robot, which looks more human.
Robot technology is being used more and more in health rehabilitation and in working life. Exoskeletons are one technology with great potential. But this technology is often developed for the average person. So what about people who are small and thin, or tall and overweight?
Robot technology is flourishing in multiple sectors of society, including the retail, health care, industry and education sectors. However, are the perspectives of minority groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, considered in robot and AI development?
NTNU students have developed a smart glove for astronauts that can be used while exploring other planets. NASA partners recently conducted successful testing of the glove at the Haughton Mars Project research station.
Researcher Marita Skjuve has been interviewing people who have a close relationship with a chatbot called Replika. Her conclusion is that such relationships offer value and meaning to the chatbot’s users, and can even be romantic.
A small machining company in Norway is the first in the world to use digitalised tools for advanced turning. The technology enables the prevention of damage to complex and expensive parts used in the aircraft and gas industries.
“We may be a mere 20 years away from creating artificial life,” says Stephen Fry. He warns that these new life forms won’t see any need to keep us, and may instead look at us as pests.
Inspecting ship tanks and storage spaces underwater is a challenging task for humans. A start-up company that originated at NTNU is manufacturing autonomous drones that can take over the job – and do it more cheaply.
Blueye is an underwater drone that got its start at NTNU. The drone can be used for serious purposes – such as when it mapped damage to the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad – or for entertainment, such as showing cruise passengers the underwater landscape.
How do you catch a drone flying at 70 km/h over a ship? With string.
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food chain but are notoriously difficult for scientists to account for — a little like trying to identify and count motes of dust in the air. A truly independent underwater vehicle shows it can do the job.
Humans have developed machines that can learn on their own. Machines using artificial intelligence develop “behaviours” based on their interpretation of data. But we know less about how they teach themselves. Professor Harald Martens has created the start-up company Idletechs to develop a technology that will make artificial intelligence more understandable for the rest of us.
The electronic “sensor” fish measures the physical factors that affect farmed fish during delousing. The results may lead to welfare improvements in salmon farm cages.
A snake robot will soon be relieving divers and mini-subs in the North Sea. But first researchers have to test its mettle in the Trondheim Fjord.
An estimated three million shipwrecks lie in seabed graveyards around the world – with as many as 1000 of them around Svalbard. Each of them has their own unique story — one that’s made much more accessible with new technology.
An international team of researchers has recently succeeded in getting several autonomous vessels and underwater vehicles to communicate and work together as part of one and the same operation.
In order to maintain the leading position of Norwegian solar cell manufacture on the global stage, we need sensors that can see what humans can’t.
Research scientists have been gazing into their crystal balls. These are the technological trends that will affect the transport systems of the future.
Would you hop into a driverless drone and let it fly off with you? In a few years you may have the chance to do just that.
Robotics technology is making inroads into the aquaculture sector, making it possible to regulate facilities from onshore.
It most resembles a giant snake undulating through the water. But this snake-like robot can work in the vast ocean depths. And perhaps one of its relatives will be able to travel to outer space.
Norwegian researchers are investigating how a snake robot might carry out maintenance work on the International Space Station (ISS), study comets, and explore the possibility of living and working in lava tunnels on the Moon.
State-of-the-art solar cells are efficient – but are even more so when they are kept clean. A cleaning robot developed by Norwegian researchers enables solar panels to deliver at full capacity.
