Though Atlas was designed to resemble a person in other ways, its hands aren’t exactly one-to-one. Instead, company engineers said, the design was optimized for sorting, packing, and handling objects—all tasks Atlas would need to perform repeatedly in a factory or warehouse setting.

USF is working to improve communication in emergencies and everyday life by teaching robots to project instructions onto piles of rubble, walls and even chairs.

Many of the environments where human-facing universal robots can provide benefits — homes, hospitals, schools — are sensitive and personal.

At ETH Zurich's Robotic Systems Lab, engineers have created ANYmal-D, a four-legged robot that can play badminton with people. This project brings together robotics, artificial intelligence and sports, showing how advanced robots can take on dynamic, fast ...