EPFL Robotics News

Drones and AI help cities combat traffic congestion

Published:27.04.26 — Traffic jams are a problem in large urban areas. How can they be solved without expanding the road network? This is a challenge that researchers are attempting to address. 

How to teach the same skill to different robots

Published:16.04.26 — A new framework developed by EPFL researchers makes it possible to teach a skill to robots with different mechanical designs, allowing them to carry out the same task safely without rewriting code for each.

Variable-stiffness endoscopes enable treatment in hard-to-reach areas

Published:27.03.26 — Thanks to next-generation endoscope technology developed at EPFL, surgeons can navigate hard-to-reach areas of the human body with extreme precision, enabling new minimally invasive procedures.

Resource-sharing boosts robotic resilience

Published:12.02.26 — EPFL roboticists have shown that when a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems, where the breakdown of one element often means a loss of functionality.

Reversible, detachable robotic hand redefines dexterity

Published:22.01.26 — A robotic hand developed at EPFL surpasses the limits of human dexterity with a dual-thumbed, reversible-palm design that can detach from its robotic ‘arm’ to reach and grasp multiple objects.

Bio-hybrid robots turn food waste into functional machines

Published:04.12.25 — EPFL scientists have integrated discarded crustacean shells into robotic devices, leveraging the strength and flexibility of natural materials for robotic applications.

Microcatheter delivers therapies to the tiniest blood vessels

Published:27.10.25 — EPFL researchers have invented a remarkably small and ultraflexible neurovascular microcatheter. Powered by blood flow, it can safely navigate the most intricately branched arteries in a matter of seconds.

Roboticists reverse engineer zebrafish navigation

Published:22.10.25 — Using simulations, robots, and live fish, scientists at EPFL and Duke University have replicated the neural circuitry that allows zebrafish to react to visual stimuli and maintain their position in flowing water. They provide a complete picture of how brain circuits, body mechanics, and the environment work together to control behavior.

New implant restores pressure balance after spinal cord injury

Published:18.09.25 — Most patients with a spinal cord injury suffer from debilitating pressure drops or dangerous pressure peaks. In a series of breakthroughs published simultaneously in Nature and Nature Medicine, neuroscientists and neurosurgeons from Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada introduce a groundbreaking neurotechnological solution.

High-tech “replacement parts” offer hope to millions

Published:10.09.25 — From robotic hands and arms to soft heart pumps, biomaterials, 3D-printed muscles and more, rapid advancements in robotics and biotechnology are giving rise to new techniques for repairing the human body.