robotics Archives

Northeastern computer engineering student Philip Andress makes adjustments to the cable driven robot in the Richards Hall lab where NURobotics meets and works.

Northeastern club went dormant during the pandemic. Now it numbers 470 members and eight robots.

Club president Ethan Holand viewed the renewal of NURobotics as a team-building opportunity to create the club of his dreams. Students of all educational backgrounds are welcome, with zero entry fees or experience required.

by Ian Thomsen June 3, 2022

Can a robot seal air leaks to help this old (and cold) house?

Northeastern won a $200,000 award from the U.S. Energy Department to scale up a model that could one day help with the back-breaking work of filling in energy-wasting air leaks in the crawl spaces of old homes.

by Peter Ramjug August 24, 2021

Jaimi Lard, who is blind and deaf, feels the TATUM robotic hand to try to determine what letter it is spelling during a validation study at the Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

This robot uses tactile sign language to help deaf-blind people communicate independently

While many others were baking bread early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Northeastern bioengineering graduate student Samantha Johnson built a robotic arm. Now, that robot can produce tactile sign language that she hopes will enable more independence for people in the deaf-blind community.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki August 4, 2021

Mark Patteron, professor of marine and environmental sciences, deploys a Trident ROV robot in Nahant, Massachusetts on on July 15, 2021. Patterson recently received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to facilitate this research. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

This robot is going to map uncharted kelp forests in the Arctic–and the impact of climate change

Mark Patterson, professor of marine and environmental sciences, recently received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to study kelp forests in the Canadian Arctic. His robot, “Fetch,” will help lead the way. “I program the mission, but it’s up to the robot to make good choices,” says Patterson.

by Emily Arntsen July 21, 2021

These engineering students are heading to Europe to grow robotics relationships

A team of robotics students is headed to an elite summer program in Europe. They hope to share what they have learned with others. Northeastern was one of several international universities with renowned robotics programs chosen for the inaugural collaborative effort.

by Peter Ramjug July 9, 2021

Mechanical engineering major Amanda Vasconcelos considers herself “one of the lucky people” to have always known what career she wanted. Now, she’s building animatronic toys as a co-op at toy-maker Hasbro. Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University

She deconstructed robotic toys as a kid. Now she builds them for Hasbro.

Amanda Vasconcelos considers herself “one of the lucky people” to have always known she wanted to be an engineer. Now, she’s building animatronic toys as a co-op at the multinational toy-making company Hasbro.

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki April 27, 2021

Students in professor Hanumant Singh's autonomous field robotics class prepare to test drive a simulated self-driving car outside the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Students take a self-driving Lincoln out for a spin

Robotics students take a simulated self-driving car out on the streets of Boston to learn about data collection. The goal is to understand how data from cameras and sensors are affected by pedestrians, bicyclists, and other cars. A human was behind the wheel for the trip, but the rolling laboratory also can be steered with a video game controller.

by Peter Ramjug April 2, 2021

Daniel Simpson, who studies mechanical engineering, demonstrates his sanitizing robot inside the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex on Northeastern's Boston campus on Dec. 15, 2020. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

He built a COVID-19-busting robot to sanitize your desk

Daniel Simpson, a first-year student at Northeastern, has wanted to build robots since he first saw Tony Stark in Iron Man. Now, he’s helping to design and build a mobile COVID-busting robot that uses UV light to sterilize desks and table-tops—while getting both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years.

by Hillary Chabot January 7, 2021

Hanumant Singh,
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, works on a drone in the ISEC building on Sept. 28, 2020. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

He's building the next generation of autonomous robots

After going into lockdown, Hanumant Singh, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, is finally back with the robots in his lab. It may not be the same, he says, but he and his team are ready to pick up where they left off and continue building the drones of the future.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa October 12, 2020

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Testing medical protective gear is the perfect job for robots–but not without the help of humans.

When the production and manufacturing industry for personal protective equipment encountered a bottled neck because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taskin Padir, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, set up a team to help mobilize the process of testing surgical masks and gowns in local hospitals. Now, he wants to build a robotic system that could help manufacturers perform that process faster and more efficiently during this and future pandemics.

by Roberto Molar Candanosa October 5, 2020

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