On April 20, 2012, a mechatronic quarterback’s metallic arm threw a football into the waiting net of a nearby wheeled receiver, and history was made. It was the first-ever completed pass in a football game played entirely by robots, and it happened during the world’s first intercollegiate robotic football game.

New Scientist | Machines may be capable of impressive feats, but can they ever be truly intelligent? In this animation produced by The Open University, we follow a famous thought experiment proposed by philosopher John Searle that challenges the notion of strong AI — that a machine can ever successfully perform an intellectual task as well as a human.

Today, people use computers to improve their own… read more

In this video, the Pet-Proto, a predecessor to DARPA’s Atlas robot, is confronted with obstacles similar to those robots might face in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC). To maneuver over and around the obstacles, the robot exercises capabilities including autonomous decision-making, dismounted mobility and dexterity.

The DARPA Robotics Challenge will test these and other capabilities in a series of tasks that will simulate conditions in a dangerous,… read more