2018 News Releases
The future of healthcare robotics: from home helpers to hospital and surgery assistants
November 16, 2018
By 2050, the number of people over age 60 will double worldwide. By 2100, it will triple. This population shift will generate dramatically increased demand for caregiving and healthcare services--demand that can’t be met by humans only. In addition, five billion people worldwide lack access to adequate healthcare, especially surgery. These are some of the problems that experts in the field of healthcare robotics from industry and academia came together to tackle during the 2018 Contextual Robotics Institute Forum held Nov. 8 at the University of California San Diego. Full Story
Healthcare, Homecare and Robotics: Where to from here?
October 10, 2018
World-renowned experts working at the intersection of robotics and healthcare will convene at UC San Diego on November 8, 2018 for the annual Contextual Robotics Institute Forum, this year focused on Healthcare Robotics. Full Story
From stair-climbing robots to motion planning algorithms: UC San Diego at IROS 2018
September 28, 2018
From stair-climbing robots to algorithms that help robots navigate the world, researchers at the University of California San Diego are making a strong showing at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, or IROS 2018, which takes place Oct. 1 to 5 in Madrid, Spain. Full Story
Endless Creativity: Designing Robots at UC San Diego
June 13, 2018
UC San Diego masters and PhD students designed and built all sorts of different walking robots for the Spring 2018 quarter of MAE 207: Bioinspired mobile robotics. Full Story
Cell-like nanorobots clear bacteria and toxins from blood
May 30, 2018
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria and the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids. Full Story
Artificial muscles, robotic grippers, health care robotics
May 14, 2018
From a gripper equipped with gecko-inspired adhesives, to artificial muscles and robotic joints, to talks on human-robot interaction and health care robotics, the University of California San Diego will have a strong presence at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia. Full Story
Transparent eel-like soft robot can swim silently underwater
April 25, 2018
An innovative, eel-like robot developed by engineers and marine biologists at the University of California can swim silently in salt water without an electric motor. Instead, the robot uses artificial muscles filled with water to propel itself. The foot-long robot, which is connected to an electronics board that remains on the surface, is also virtually transparent. The team, which includes researchers from UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, details their work in the April 25 issue of Science Robotics. Full Story
Turning injectable medicines into inhalable treatments with the help of smart phone components
April 10, 2018
Imagine if all childhood vaccines could get delivered with an inhaler rather than shots; or wiping away tuberculosis bacteria in a patient’s lungs with an inhaler; or disinfecting a hospital room thoroughly with a diffuser. These are the goals of a research team led by Professor James Friend in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California San Diego. Their efforts were recently boosted when Friend received a prestigious $900,000 research grant from the Keck Foundation, whose mission is to support pioneering discoveries in science, engineering and medical research. Full Story
Gecko-inspired adhesives help soft robotic fingers get a better grip
April 6, 2018
A team of California researchers has developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art. Researchers will present their findings at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia. Full Story
Robotics and Autonomy Research at UC San Diego Research Expo on April 19
March 26, 2018
Robotics and autonomy research is just one of the many reasons to come to the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering on April 19 for Research Expo. Industry recruiters and technical staff from companies across the region will be talking research with the 200+ engineering and computer science graduate students at their posters. The poster session runs from 2PM until 4:30 PM. Register today for Research Expo. Full Story
We Welcome Our Robot Tour Guides
March 21, 2018
Take a walk inside the entrance to UC San Diego's Atkinson Hall and you might be greeted by a robot made of two cardboard boxes stacked one upon the other, complete with a signature smiley face. BoxBot, as the bot is called, works with his counterpart TritonBot, a robot with a fully functional body, in the hopes of one day becoming a lobby receptionist for the building. But the 'bots are also being used for more sophisticated purposes: to collect information about how humans respond to robots. Full Story
San Diego, Korea team up to tackle transportation
March 21, 2018
UC San Diego is launching an international research collaboration to develop smart and clean transportation systems and infrastructure, with an added goal of commercializing the results. In partnership with the City of San Diego, the City of Ulsan in Korea and the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), along with numerous industry partners, the UC San Diego Smart Transportation Innovation Program will develop technological solutions to tomorrow’s transportation challenges. Full Story
UC San Diego Grad Students Build a Robotics Community
March 15, 2018
Nanoengineering Ph.D. student Caleb Christianson and mechanical engineering Ph.D. student Benjamin Shih created the Association for Robotics Graduate Students here at UC San Diego at the end of 2016. Both Shih and Christianson are part of the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab led by mechanical engineering professor Mike Tolley. Full Story
Lasers, batteries and autonomy: get the latest updates at Research Expo
March 15, 2018
Breakthrough lasers, better batteries for electric vehicles, and autonomous robots are on the docket for the faculty tech-talks at the 37th annual Jacobs School of Engineering Research Expo at the University of California San Diego. Full Story
UC San Diego Drone Research Takes Flight
January 25, 2018
UC San Diego inaugurated the first open-air aerodrome for unmanned aerial vehicles here on campus last week. The opening is the first step in what engineers hope will be a new era for drone research on campus. One of the goals is to create a living laboratory for unmanned aerial vehicles by bringing together researchers from across campus, including computer scientists, structural, mechanical, aerospace, electrical and computer engineers and scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Full Story