Advancements in robotics are continually taking place in the fields of space exploration, health care, public safety, entertainment, defense, and more. These machines—some fully autonomous, some requiring human input—extend our grasp, enhance our capabilities, and travel as our surrogates to places too dangerous or difficult for us to go. Gathered here are recent images of robotic technology, including a Japanese probe reaching a distant asteroid, bipedal-robot fighting matches in Japan, a cuddly cat-substitute robotic pillow, an automated milking machine, delivery bots, telepresence robots, technology on the fashion runway, robotic prosthetic limbs and exoskeletons, and much more.
Robots at Work and Play
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A paraplegic patient, Sjaan Quirijns (center), uses crutches to support her steps in an exoskeleton during a presentation at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands on August 14, 2018. #
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The delivery robot "Dax" rolls down a neighborhood sidewalk in Philomath, Oregon, on April 25, 2018. Joseph Sullivan, the inventor of Dax, is a native of the small town. He said he planned to deploy 30 Dax-like robots to perform various delivery tasks in the following months. #
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This photograph taken on September 12, 2017, shows the robot "Yumi" during a rehearsal prior to a concert where Yumi conducted the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Italy. #
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iPal social robots, designed by AvatarMind, stand in an assembly plant in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China, on July 4, 2018. Designed to offer education, care, and companionship to children and the elderly, the three and a half feet tall humanoid robots come in two genders and can tell stories, take photos, and deliver educational or promotional content. #
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A self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover shows the robot at a drilled sample site called "Duluth" on the lower slopes of Mount Sharp on Mars on June 20, 2018. A Martian dust storm reduced sunlight and visibility in Gale Crater. The north-northeast wall and rim of the crater lie beyond the rover, their visibility obscured by atmospheric dust. #
JPL-CALTECH / MSSS / NASA / Getty -
Robots fight during the 32nd Robo-One tournament in Tokyo, Japan, on February 25, 2018. According to the organizer, the event is a fighting competition for bipedal robots, aimed at improving the technology and spreading its popularity. #
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The ExoMars rover, a robot developed by the European Space Agency to search for signs of life on Mars, in Toulouse, France, on May 30, 2018. The 300-kilogram rover carries a drill capable of bringing back a core up to two meters deep and a laboratory capable of analyzing the sample and identifying biochemical markers. The rover also carries instruments to identify the presence of water or hydrated materials, cameras, and spectrometers. The ExoMars rover is scheduled to launch in 2020. #
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Kofukuji Temple Chief Priest Bungen Oi offers a prayer for Sony pet-robot Aibos displayed on an altar prior to the robots' "funeral" at the temple in Isumi, Chiba, Japan, on April 26, 2018. More than 100 "dead" robot dogs from different years were placed next to one another in the temple for their funeral. #
Nicolas Datiche / AFP / Getty -
A robot created by Japan's Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories called Erica is presented at the IROS 2018 International Conference on Intelligent Robots in Madrid on October 5, 2018. #
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Yukai Engineering's Tsubasa Tominaga demonstrates Qoobo, a cushion robot, at his office in Tokyo on January 10, 2018. A fuzzy, huggable cushion with a swishy tail, Qoobo is designed to deliver a calming therapeutic effect for cat lovers who can’t have a real pet. The home robot targets the elderly, kids, and hardworking salarymen pressed for time. Unlike real children or pets, they have off switches and don’t need constant attention, dog food, or cat litter. #
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The Engineered Arts prosthetic expert Mike Humphrey checks on Fred, a recently completed Mesmer robot built at the company's headquarters in Penryn, Cornwall, England, on May 9, 2018. The Cornish company makes life-size commercially available humanoid robots for entertainment, information, education, and research. #
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A visitor (right) speaks with the Japanese actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's android robot, named "Totto," during the World Robot Expo held as part of the World Robot Summit on October 17, 2018, in Tokyo, Japan. #
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A wolflike robot named "Super Monster Wolf" stands beside a rice field to drive away wild animals that cause damage to crops in Kisarazu, Chiba prefecture, Japan, on August 25, 2017. The agricultural cooperative association JA Kisarazu-shi introduced the robot recently on a trial basis. It can detect wild animals such as boars and deer with an infrared sensor and intimidate them, flashing its red LED eyes and blaring 48 types of sounds, including a wolf growl and human voice. #
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A police robot is on duty in the Xidan commercial district of Beijing, China, on September 27, 2018. The police robot, equipped with cameras, speakers, lighting lamps, and alarm lamps, was developed by the First Research Institute of China's Ministry of Public Security. #
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A "Jellyfishbot," a marine robot, collects floating waste in the harbor of Cassis, France, on January 18, 2018. Remote-controlled, the Jellyfishbot prototype will soon be equipped with a laser to detect "obstacles and autonomously collect waste," according to Nicolas Carlesi, one of its creators and a doctoral student in robotics and artificial intelligence. #
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This image provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency shows the shadow (center left) of the Japanese unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 over the asteroid Ryugu on September 21, 2018. Hayabusa2 released two small Minerva-II1 rovers on the asteroid in a research effort that may provide clues to the origin of the solar system. #
JAXA via AP -
A staff member puts contact gel on the cap of a competitor during a brain-computer-interface-controlled robot contest at the World Robot Conference in Beijing on August 17, 2018. #
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Students assemble contents from a robotics kit during a Robotics and Coding Club meeting at the Sedi Laka Primary School in Ivory Park, Johannesburg, South Africa, on September 12, 2018. #
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Mr. Liu, whose body was more than 95 percent burned, picks up keys with his new bionic hand at a rehabilitation center in Guangzhou, China, on January 3, 2018. The 36-year-old Liu was hospitalized with severe burns after a dust explosion in a cement plant three years ago, and the successful amputation surgery of part of his limbs saved his life. Now he can control a wheelchair, drink water, tap a keyboard, and answer phone calls with his bionic hand. #
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Lydie (center, on the screen), an asthma sufferer, attends a course from her home via a connection through a telepresence robot at a high school in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, on March 20, 2018. #
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The Engineered Arts electrical engineer Beni Szlivka works on the skeleton structure of a Mesmer robot being built at the company's headquarters in Penryn, England, on May 9, 2018. #
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SoftBank Group Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son looks at a Boston Dynamics SpotMini robot during a demonstration at the SoftBank World 2017 conference on July 20, 2017, in Tokyo, Japan. #
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Kawasaki's robust humanoid platform "Kaleido" forms the shape of a heart with its hands as it performs a dance along with music during its demonstration at the World Robot Summit in Tokyo, Japan, on October 17, 2018. #
Kim Kyung Hoon / Reuters
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