Si chiplet-controlled 3D modular microrobots with smart communication in natural aqueous environments.

Modular microrobotics can potentially address many information-intensive microtasks in medicine, manufacturing, and the environment. However, surface area has limited the natural powering, communication, functional integration, and self-assembly of smart mass-fabricated modular robotic devices at small scales. We demonstrate the integrated self-folding and self-rolling of functionalized patterned interior and exterior membrane surfaces resulting in programmable, self-assembling, intercommunicating, and self-locomoting micromodules (smartlets ≤ 1 cubic millimeter) with interior chambers for onboard buoyancy control.

Photocatalytic microrobots for treating bacterial infections deep within sinuses.

Microrobotic techniques are promising for treating biofilm infections located deep within the human body. However, the presence of highly viscous pus presents a formidable biological barrier, severely restricting targeted and minimally invasive treatments. In addition, conventional antibacterial agents exhibit limited payload integration with microrobotic systems, further compromising therapeutic efficiency.

Multimodal information structuring with single-layer soft skins and high-density electrical impedance tomography.

The human skin can reliably capture a wide range of multimodal data over a large surface while providing a soft interface. Artificial technologies using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) can emulate these biological functions but present numerous challenges in fabrication, delamination due to soft-rigid interfaces, and electrical interference. To address these difficulties, we present a single-layer multimodal sensory skin made using only a highly sensitive hydrogel membrane.

Learning coordinated badminton skills for legged manipulators.

Coordinating the motion between lower and upper limbs and aligning limb control with perception are substantial challenges in robotics, particularly in dynamic environments. To this end, we introduce an approach for enabling legged mobile manipulators to play badminton, a task that requires precise coordination of perception, locomotion, and arm swinging. We propose a unified reinforcement learning-based control policy for whole-body visuomotor skills involving all degrees of freedom to achieve effective shuttlecock tracking and striking.

Bridging hard and soft: Mechanical metamaterials enable rigid torque transmission in soft robots.

Torque and continuous rotation are fundamental methods of actuation and manipulation in rigid robots. Soft robot arms use soft materials and structures to mimic the passive compliance of biological arms that bend and extend. This use of compliance prevents soft arms from continuously transmitting and exerting torques to interact with their environment.

Robotic locomotion through active and passive morphological adaptation in extreme outdoor environments.

Robotic locomotion has shown substantial advancements, yet robots still lack the versatility and agility shown by animals navigating complex terrains. This limits their applicability in complex environments where they could be highly beneficial. Unlike existing robots that rely on intricate perception systems to construct models of both themselves and their surroundings, a more bioinspired approach leverages reconfiguration to adapt a robot's morphology to its environment.

Highly agile flat swimming robot.

Navigating and exploring the surfaces of bodies of water allow swimming robots to perform a range of measurements while efficiently communicating and harvesting energy from the Sun. Such environments are often highly unstructured and cluttered with plant matter, animals, and debris, which require robots to move swiftly. We report a fast (5.

Bird-inspired reflexive morphing enables rudderless flight.

Gliding birds lack a vertical tail, yet they fly stably rudderless in turbulence without needing discrete flaps to steer. In contrast, nearly all airplanes need vertical tails to damp Dutch roll oscillations and to control yaw. The few exceptions that lack a vertical tail either leverage differential drag-based yaw actuators or their fixed planforms are carefully tuned for passively stable Dutch roll and proverse yaw.

Self-organizing nervous systems for robot swarms.

We present the self-organizing nervous system (SoNS), a robot swarm architecture based on self-organized hierarchy. The SoNS approach enables robots to autonomously establish, maintain, and reconfigure dynamic multilevel system architectures. For example, a robot swarm consisting of independent robots could transform into a single -robot SoNS and then into several independent smaller SoNSs, where each SoNS uses a temporary and dynamic hierarchy.

Hexagonal electrohydraulic modules for rapidly reconfigurable high-speed robots.

Robots made from reconfigurable modular units feature versatility, cost efficiency, and improved sustainability compared with fixed designs. Reconfigurable modules driven by soft actuators provide adaptable actuation, safe interaction, and wide design freedom, but existing soft modules would benefit from high-speed and high-strain actuation, as well as driving methods well-suited to untethered operation. Here, we introduce a class of electrically actuated robotic modules that provide high-speed (a peak contractile strain rate of 4618% per second, 15.

Stretchable Arduinos embedded in soft robots.

To achieve real-world functionality, robots must have the ability to carry out decision-making computations. However, soft robots stretch and therefore need a solution other than rigid computers. Examples of embedding computing capacity into soft robots currently include appending rigid printed circuit boards to the robot, integrating soft logic gates, and exploiting material responses for material-embedded computation.

Bistable soft jumper capable of fast response and high takeoff velocity.

In contrast with jumping robots made from rigid materials, soft jumpers composed of compliant and elastically deformable materials exhibit superior impact resistance and mechanically robust functionality. However, recent efforts to create stimuli-responsive jumpers from soft materials were limited in their response speed, takeoff velocity, and travel distance. Here, we report a magnetic-driven, ultrafast bistable soft jumper that exhibits good jumping capability (jumping more than 108 body heights with a takeoff velocity of more than 2 meters per second) and fast response time (less than 15 milliseconds) compared with previous soft jumping robots.

Variable-stiffness-morphing wheel inspired by the surface tension of a liquid droplet.

Wheels have been commonly used for locomotion in mobile robots and transportation systems because of their simple structure and energy efficiency. However, the performance of wheels in overcoming obstacles is limited compared with their advantages in driving on normal flat ground. Here, we present a variable-stiffness wheel inspired by the surface tension of a liquid droplet.

Crawling, climbing, perching, and flying by FiBa soft robots.

This paper introduces an approach to fabricating lightweight, untethered soft robots capable of diverse biomimetic locomotion. Untethering soft robotics from electrical or pneumatic power remains one of the prominent challenges within the field. The development of functional untethered soft robotic systems hinges heavily on mitigating their weight; however, the conventional weight of pneumatic network actuators (pneu-nets) in soft robots has hindered untethered operations.

Learning agile soccer skills for a bipedal robot with deep reinforcement learning.

We investigated whether deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) is able to synthesize sophisticated and safe movement skills for a low-cost, miniature humanoid robot that can be composed into complex behavioral strategies. We used deep RL to train a humanoid robot to play a simplified one-versus-one soccer game. The resulting agent exhibits robust and dynamic movement skills, such as rapid fall recovery, walking, turning, and kicking, and it transitions between them in a smooth and efficient manner.

Pollen data from bottom sediments of a tundra lake in the Yerkuta River basin on the Yamal Peninsula.

This article extends the findings of our previous research "Preliminary reconstruction of climate changes and vegetation cover inferred from pollen study of the arctic lake bottom sediments from the southwestern part of the Yamal Peninsula" (G.R. Nigamatzyanova, N.

Cognitive functioning and social media: Has technology changed us?

Social media use and its effects on mood have been well researched. However, social media use and its effects on cognition are not as well known. Based on the research studies available, this study hypothesized that those categorized as participating in high social media use would have lower ability to effectively inhibit irrelevant information and higher ability for working memory.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mobility in ten countries and associated perceived risk for all transport modes.

The restrictive measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered sudden massive changes to travel behaviors of people all around the world. This study examines the individual mobility patterns for all transport modes (walk, bicycle, motorcycle, car driven alone, car driven in company, bus, subway, tram, train, airplane) before and during the restrictions adopted in ten countries on six continents: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the United States. This cross-country study also aims at understanding the predictors of protective behaviors related to the transport sector and COVID-19.

From fighting COVID-19 pandemic to tackling sustainable development goals: An opportunity for responsible information systems research.

The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a significant threat to the healthy lives and well-being of billions of people worldwide. As the world begins to open up from lockdowns and enters an unprecedented state of vulnerability, or what many have called "the new normal", it makes sense to reflect on what we have learned, revisit our fundamental assumptions, and start charting the way forward to contribute to building a sustainable world. In this essay, we argue that despite its significant damage to human lives and livelihoods, the coronavirus pandemic presents an excellent opportunity for the human family to act in solidarity and turn this crisis into an impetus to achieve the United Nation's (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The Transformative Potential of Disruptions: A Viewpoint.

I engage with the impact of disruptions on my work life, and consider the transformative potential that these disruptions offer. I focus on four parts of my life: as a researcher, teacher, administrator and editor. In each, I examine the nature of the disruption and the way I deal with it.

WASP (Write a Scientific Paper): Structuring a scientific paper.

Writing and publishing scientific papers have become requisites for all scientists (researchers and academics alike) to maintain their professional career. The prospects of writing a scientific paper are often regarded as somewhat daunting to the uninitiated. However a universal, well established structure format known as "IMRAD": i.

Twelve tips for getting your manuscript published.

The author shares twelve practical tips on how to navigate the process of getting a manuscript published. These tips, which apply to all fields of academic writing, advise that during the initial preparation phase authors should: (1) plan early to get it out the door; (2) address authorship and writing group expectations up front; (3) maintain control of the writing; (4) ensure complete reporting; (5) use electronic reference management software; (6) polish carefully before they submit; (7) select the right journal; and (8) follow journal instructions precisely. Rejection after the first submission is likely, and when this occurs authors should (9) get it back out the door quickly, but first (10) take seriously all reviewer and editor suggestions.