14 January 2022
Lidar uses lasers to create 3D images, but these can be hard to interpret because they are black and white. A new scanner adds cameras to make colour images that could be useful for infrastructure inspection or robot vision
1 December 2021
Methane is an underappreciated but potent greenhouse gas. How we deal with it will have a massive impact on averting the worst consequences of climate change
18 November 2021
Instead of using sophisticated sensors to detect their surroundings and navigate safely, drones and robots could listen for reflections of their own mechanical noises
3 November 2021
An ambitious directory of elephant behaviours and vocalisations offers amazing insights into their minds and culture – and could help save these magnificent beasts from extinction
29 October 2021
The European Maritime Safety Agency has contracted drone company Tekever to use uncrewed aircraft for search-and-rescue missions
13 October 2021
UK start-up Opteran Technologies has demonstrated a system that can guide a robot through a maze using far less energy and weight than conventional approaches
11 October 2021
Safer, an oil tanker in the Red Sea, has been abandoned and could unleash a catastrophic oil spill that would leave millions of people without food or clean water
7 October 2021
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded $2 million to a team of quadruped and flying robots capable of exploring underground caves
6 October 2021
Airflow induced by electric fields, known as ionic wind, has already propelled a small aircraft – now engineers think it could help to ease the clean-energy transition and protect infrastructure from natural winds
29 September 2021
Maritime authorities in the EU are now using drones to “sniff” the exhaust fumes from ships and catch operators using illegal, sulphur-rich fuel
