June
The aspect of AI that means Australia could miss out
More than three in four robotics patents in the past 20 years are from China. How do we make the most of that?
The robot farm that allows producers to ‘play god’
Stacked Farm’s vertical farming initiative has won the Financial Review Sustainability Leaders agriculture and environment category, as well as being the overall winner for innovation.
Why it’s so hard to make a reliable self-driving car
The promised rollout of fully autonomous vehicles remains largely unfulfilled, with every advance seemingly matched by a serious setback.
We’ve seen the future, and it’s wearing Birkenstocks
Roborock’s Saros Z70 marks the beginning of the era where robots follow us around the house and pick up after us.
May
Why it pays to use AI on the sly at work
Research shows staff are likely to be downgraded for owning up to using AI, highlighting the need for office guidelines to encourage workers to use it openly.
‘Black Mirror’ showed us a future. Some of it is here now.
The long-running tech drama always felt as if it took place in a dystopian near future. How much of that future has come to pass?
April
China has an army of robots on its side in the tariff war
Enormous investments in factory equipment and artificial intelligence are giving Beijing an edge in car manufacturing and other industries.
China’s first robot marathon runners trip, emit smoke, fall apart
In the world’s first half-marathon for androids, just four out of 21 robotic runners completed the race in Beijing’s southern tech hub of E-Town.
Just right for your holiday home: the robovac that gives some stick
Eufy’s E20 may not be as good at cleaning as other robots, but at least it gives you the tools to finish the job.
March
Fancy a robot to clean your windows? This one will give it a shot
It’s early days in the advent of window-cleaning robots, and they don’t do a terrific job. But Ecovacs’ Winbot W2 Pro Omni doesn’t do a bad job, either.
The obstacle-climbing robot vacuum we wish we could afford to keep
Getting over tiny steps is just one of a few new features in Dreame’s X50 Ultra mopping robovac. It’s also got a great anti-tangle system and a steep price.
Nvidia CEO hypes AI with new chips and ‘supercharged humanoid robots’
Jensen Huang laid out plans for more powerful processors, a model for robotics and “personal AI supercomputers”.
You can’t unsee this terrifying ‘man-suit’ android
The inventors of the Protoclone hope it can be a skin for future AI applications. In the meantime, it is hanging around looking scary.
January
Why the world needs lazier robots
Machines need to get better at ignoring stuff because right now the energy they guzzle to process all the data they receive makes them a global warming risk.
Australia’s next robot farm wants to grow your burger garnish
Investors have lost billions on vertical farming start-ups, but a Gold Coast business says it has a model that stacks up, luring investment from Tribeca and Tayside.
Robot puts a sock in it for world’s biggest gadget fest
CES – formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show – starts officially on Wednesday, but already a theme has emerged, and it doesn’t take AI to figure out what it is.
AI’s next big (risky) thing: Special agents to organise your life
Tasks that would have taken a month can now be done in an hour, but people will be exposing a lot more digital information, raising privacy and security concerns.
October 2024
Elon Musk’s robots were remotely operated by humans at Tesla event
Optimus’ conversation was so authentic, it prompted speculation the machine may have had external help. The billionaire did not reveal that staffers oversaw interactions.
August 2024
The robochef revolution poised to take over restaurants
Robot-driven kitchens are delivering profit margins that traditional restaurateurs can only dream of, and their spruikers argue that human chefs will benefit too.
June 2024
Aussie experts can stop your smart-device cameras spying on you
When photos snapped by a robot vacuum cleaner of a woman on the toilet went viral, the smart home sector knew it had a problem; Aussie academics claim to have solved it.