
Sensing robot healthcare helpers being developed at SFU
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Robots that could take on basic healthcare tasks to support the work of doctors and nurses may be the way of the future. Who knows, maybe a medical robot can prescribe your medicine someday? That's the idea behind 3D structural-sensing robots being developed and tested at Simon Fraser University by Woo Soo Kim, associate professor in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering.
Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are hormone-like substances that can have undesirable effects on health. For example, chemicals can increase the risk of breast cancer if they act in a manner similar to the female sex hormone oestrogen. Animal experiments are still required to detect the hormonal effects of chemical substances. A test has now been developed at the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) that tests the effects of hormones on cultured human cells.
USC researchers find sea stars' shape plays an important role in their ability to withstand dynamic water forces and remain attached to surfaces. Understanding such shape shifting could help design underwater robots that can similarly adapt to extreme hydrodynamic environments.
A new study by computer scientists found that when individuals in an experiment about autonomous vehicles were informed that their peers were more likely to sacrifice their own safety to program their to vehicle hit a wall rather than hit pedestrians who were at risk, the percentage of individuals willing to sacrifice their own safety increased by approximately two-thirds.
A computer network closely modelled on part of the human brain is enabling new insights into the way our brains process moving images - and explains some perplexing optical illusions.
All high-level AVs rely heavily on sensors, and in the paper, 'Realistic LiDAR with Noise Model for Real-Tim Testing of Automated Vehicles in a Virtual Environment', published in the IEEE Sensors Journal, researchers from the Intelligent Vehicles Group at WMG, University of Warwick have specifically simulated and evaluated the performance of LiDAR sensors in rain.
Responding to artificial intelligence's exploding demands on computer networks, Princeton University researchers in recent years have radically increased the speed and slashed the energy use of specialized AI systems. Now, the researchers have moved their innovation closer to widespread use by creating co-designed hardware and software that will allow designers to blend these new types of systems into their applications.
A digital twin of our planet is to simulate the Earth system in future. It is intended to support policy-?makers in taking appropriate measures to better prepare for extreme events. A new strategy paper by European scientists and ETH Zurich computer scientists shows how this can be achieved.
Plants and animals can rapidly respond to changes in their environment, such as a Venus flytrap snapping shut when a fly touches it. However, replicating similar actions in soft robots requires complex mechanics and sensors. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have printed liquid metal circuits onto a single piece of soft polymer, creating an intelligent material that curls under pressure or mechanical strain.
Data mining technology developed by researchers at the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre could help hospitals plan for surges in COVID-19 cases, based on notes recorded electronically by doctors.