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”.

2 days ago · New tool from MIT CSAIL creates realistic virtual kitchens and living rooms where simulated robots can interact with models of real-world objects, scaling up training data for robot …

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, developed by …

Apr 9, 2025 · A hopping, insect-sized robot can jump over gaps or obstacles, traverse rough, slippery, or slanted surfaces, and perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers, while using a fraction of the energy …

Apr 2, 2025 · SPROUT is a flexible robot built by MIT Lincoln Laboratory and Notre Dame researchers to assist in disaster response. Emergency responders can use the robot to navigate and map areas …

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.

Jul 23, 2025 · From R2D2 to the Terminator via Bender and Johnny-5, we choose our favourite robots from books, films and television series

Jul 17, 2025 · A new training interface allows a robot to learn a task in several different ways. This increased training flexibility could help more people interact with and teach robots — and may also …

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 pollinate fruits and …

Mar 25, 2024 · MIT engineers aim to give robots a bit of common sense when faced with situations that push them off their trained path, so they can self-correct after missteps and carry on with their …