Robotics

As Steve Rosenbush notes in the Wall Street Journal, MIT Intelligence Quest hopes to answer two questions: “How does human intelligence work, in engineering terms? And how can we use that deep grasp of human intelligence to build wiser and more useful machines?” explains President Reif.

Dean Anantha Chandrakasan speaks with Kristin Toussaint of Metro about MIT Intelligence Quest. “When you bring together researchers from different disciplines, they end up collaborating and creating something very new that they individually couldn't have created,” said Chandrakasan.

“Intriguing is that [MIT IQ] brings together researchers who study both human intelligence and artificial intelligence. The hope is that better understanding both of them will help develop new algorithms and techniques that can be used broadly,” writes Sean Captain for Fast Company.

Jeff Engel writes for Xconomy about MIT’s ambitions for its newly announced Institute-wide initiative, MIT Intelligence Quest. “If we want A.I. breakthroughs, it’s going to take research in new science. That’s a central inspiration for MIT IQ,” said President Reif.

Mike Wankum of WCVB visits MIT to learn more about spinoff Pipeguard Robotics, which has developed a robot that can help detect leaky pipes before they burst. The robot can spot tiny holes within two feet of a leak while current systems, “can only find major leaks within a few hundred feet of a cracked line,” says Wankum. 

Writing for The New York Times, Thomas Edsall highlights research by Profs. Daron Acemoglu and David Autor examining how automation and trade impacted the 2016 presidential election. “The swing to Republicans between 2008 and 2016 is quite a bit stronger in commuting zones most affected by industrial robots,” explains Acemoglu. “You don’t see much of the impact of robots in prior presidential elections.”

Tony Dokoupil of CBS This Morning visits MIT to learn more about how researchers are working on developing robots that will improve our daily lives. Dokoupil highlights how researchers are, “perfecting the material for a new breed of robot – one that's light and flexible,” adding that the researchers hope, “we'll be able to wear the robot like Tony Stark in ‘Iron Man’."

Reuters Video visits MIT to learn more about how researchers have developed a new robot, dubbed Jackal, which can navigate pedestrian traffic. Graduate student Michael Everett explains that the robot was designed to operate, “just like people do, so [it] fits in with the flow of traffic.” 

Reporting for WBUR on the future of digital fabrication, Bruce Gellerman highlights a solar-powered architectural robot developed by MIT researchers. The robot can quickly design and build shelters for use in disaster-response situations or space exploration using a 3-D printing process. 

Washington Post reporter Audrey Hoffer writes about Ori, the flexible robotic furniture system developed by MIT researchers. “We want to change the paradigm to living large in a small footprint. People think square footage and functionality are linearly related, but that’s the old paradigm,” says MIT alumnus and founder Hasier Larrea. 

Merrit Kennedy reports for NPR that MIT researchers have developed robotic artificial muscles that can lift 1,000 times their own weight. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that the technology could eventually be used to bring "soft strong mobility to people who are otherwise unable to move."

Writing for Fortune, Jamie Ducharme details how researchers from MIT and Harvard are one step closer to creating robots with superpowers, thanks to a new robotic artificial muscle they have developed. The new technology could be used, “in arenas ranging from medicine to architecture to space exploration,” Ducharme explains. 

CBC News’ Anna Maria Tremonti explores a new study by MIT researchers that examines how children interact with AI toys. The study shows, “how children can develop emotional ties with the robots, which was cause for concern for the MIT researcher,” Tremonti explains. 

HuffPost reporter Thomas Tamblyn writes that MIT and Harvard researchers have created a range of origami-inspired robotic muscles. “These ultra-flexible materials could be applied to everything from deep-sea robotics to creating tiny yet incredibly strong tools for performing surgery,” Tamblyn explains. 

Researchers from MIT and Harvard have developed a new origami-inspired artificial muscle that can lift up to a thousand times its own weight, reports Amina Khan for The Los Angeles Times. Khan explains that the robotic muscles, “offer a new way to give soft robots super-strength, which could be used everywhere from inside our bodies to outer space.”