A team of researchers at the University of Macau has unveiled a tiny, spider-inspired robot that may reshape how doctors diagnose and treat diseases of the stomach and intestines. The soft, magnetically controlled robot can climb in any direction – even upside down – through the body’s most complex digestive landscapes, where traditional endoscopes can’t go. Gastrointestinal … [Read more...] about Spider-inspired robot crawls the gut to deliver precision therapy
Technology
Designing immersive learning to inspire girls in technology
A project designed by a student in the Design Programme at the University of Auckland is empowering girls in New Zealand and Sri Lanka to see themselves in technology careers. ‘If you can see it, you can be it.’ That’s the ethos behind the new research project, which uses extended reality (XR) – a technology that blends virtual, augmented and mixed reality – to explore how … [Read more...] about Designing immersive learning to inspire girls in technology
New open-source software enables efficient 3D printing with multiple materials
A PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a new design system software package that could reshape the way in which engineers design multi-material objects – and has released it open source. Charles Wade’s open-source tool, which he dubbed OpenVCAD, maps not just shapes but also where different materials belong in … [Read more...] about New open-source software enables efficient 3D printing with multiple materials
New offshore drilling technology is a design engineering first
To meet the evolving demands of the geotechnical drilling and subsea operations industries, design engineers at Cornwall-based specialist engineering firm MintMech have developed a new heave-compensation system. Active Heave Assist (AHA) offers heave compensation for vessel motion within less than ten centimetres, ensuring the drill bit remains stable relative to the seabed … [Read more...] about New offshore drilling technology is a design engineering first
Accounting for uncertainty to help engineers design complex systems
Researchers at MIT have developed a new framework that helps engineers design complex systems in a way that explicitly accounts for uncertainty. The framework allows them to model the performance trade-offs of a device with many interconnected parts, each of which could behave in unpredictable ways. Designing a complex electronic device such as a delivery drone involves … [Read more...] about Accounting for uncertainty to help engineers design complex systems