European science conversations
by the community, for the community
Swiss researchers visit a watch-making school, to teach robots think like a craftsman.
Could robots put Swiss watchmakers out of business? Not for a long time. In fact, robots really struggle to emulate the kind of delicate, fine-tuned manipulation Read more [...]
More than 95 percent of the ocean is still unexplored. To combat this, engineers have designed a robotic fish that looks and swims like a fish. Read more [...]
We are soon to benefit from the availability of hyperlocal news. News about the local sports team, our local weather, average prices of houses in our locality, etc. This is the perfect illustration of how technology will serve the needs of citizens in a way that was never possible before. Today, most news report are relevant to entire regions or nations, or have an international dimension. But news that are only relevant to the locality where people live are too costly to produce via traditional means, using journalists. Instead, Claude de Loupy, CEO of French startup Syllabs, explains how robots capable of writing hyperlocal news report by making sense of automated wheather, sports and other automated data reports, are already available. Read more [...]
The legal implications of the consequences of the actions of robots endowed with artificial intelligence are currently the object of discussion at the European Parliament. In this opinion piece, Orsolya Zara, legal and policy advisor to an MEP at the European Parliament, in Brussels, provides some insights into changes pertaining to robots liability that may need to be implemented in civil law. Read more [...]
The football game starts, and the players dash across the field. With control of the ball, the striker readies to shoot and the goalkeeper tenses in anticipation. With a swift kick, the ball glides across the pitch towards the goals. These players aren’t humans though. They are two-foot tall, autonomous humanoid robots, programmed by a team of engineers and computer scientists in the National University of Ireland Maynooth to compete in the annual world cup of robot soccer, RoboCup. EuroScientist interviewed Seán McLoone, head of the Department of Electronic Engineering, about the team, and watched a game with team members Tom Whelan and Fiachra Matthews. Read more [...]
The quiet market town of Culham, England, plays host to the Joint European Torus (JET) – Europe's largest fusion device. Read more [...]
When bats want to find their way around in the dark, they start by emitting a series of loud, ultrasonic sound pulses. Analysing how long it takes for the sound waves to return enables bats to construct a detailed map of their environment.
Reverse Read more [...]
Giulio Sandini, accompanied by a talk by Edgar Körner of the Honda Reserach Institute Europe, gave an insight look into recent developments on the way to learning robots at ESOF2010 in Turin. This thought provoking talk gave the determining factor for this interview. Read more [...]
