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Aeronautics and Astronautics

Closeup of robotic cane

Oct 15, 2021

A team of researchers build a $400 self-navigating smart cane

Artificial Intelligence, Health, Technology & Society

A new algorithm can help drones and other similar low-power robots decide when and when not to off-load their AI tasks. | iStock/evandrorigon

Sep 16, 2021

Solving the robot off-loading problem

Artificial Intelligence, Computation & Data Issue #122

Stanford graduate student Delaney Miller wearing the energy expenditure monitoring system. | Photo by Andrew Brodhead

Jul 14, 2021

A team of engineers design an accurate wearable calorie burn counter

Health, Technology & Society Issue #120

A robotic gripper, developed by Stanford engineers, was tested aboard the ISS. | From a video by Kurt Hickman

May 24, 2021

Stanford ‘gecko gripper’ tested on the International Space Station

Technology & Society, Transportation & Robotics Issue #118

Illustrations of ReachBot traversing a Martian cavern across two different types of treacherous terrain | Image courtesy of Marco Pavone

May 12, 2021

A chance to apply sci-fi concepts to real space exploration

Technology & Society, Transportation & Robotics Issue #117

A penguin colony | Unsplash/Hubert Neufeld

Oct 28, 2020

Algorithms guide aerial drones to map penguin colonies in Antarctica

Environment, Transportation & Robotics

What will happen at the critical instant a rocket engine ignites? Stanford engineers will help answer that question. | Image courtesy of Javier Urzay

Oct 1, 2020

Interdisciplinary team develops ‘exascale’ computing for spaceflight

Technology & Society Issue #104

NASA’s 2020 Mars Rover — the aptly named Perseverance — is scheduled to launch this summer. | Photo courtesy of Kurt Hickman

Jul 21, 2020

A group of scientists anticipate the Mars 2020 rover launch

Technology & Society

Building systems that meet the exceptionally high level of safety expected of commercial air transport is challenging. | iStock/Helin Loik-Tomson

Jun 30, 2020

Mykel Kochenderfer: AI and safety-critical systems

Artificial Intelligence, Technology & Society

“Delivery drones are the future.” | iStock/krugli

Jun 30, 2020

Could drones deliver packages more efficiently by hopping on the bus?

Computation & Data, Technology & Society, Transportation & Robotics Issue #97

Artist rendering of a spaceship leaving a lunar colony. | Image credit: SpaceX

May 11, 2020

How do we protect planets from biological cross-contamination?

Energy, Environment

An artist’s interpretation of space trash objects orbiting the Earth | Adobe Stock/dottedyeti

Feb 13, 2020

Simone D’Amico: “The Swarm” is coming to an orbit near you

Artificial Intelligence, Technology & Society, Transportation & Robotics Issue #89

A class of engine now used to keep satellites in stable orbits could be adapted to power long-distance space probes. | NASA/JPL-Caltech/Science Source

Feb 11, 2020

How better propulsion systems can help improve space exploration

Transportation & Robotics Issue #88

Senesky and her colleagues will prepare a set of experiments that will take graphene aerogel to the International Space Station. | Adobe Stock/Tryfonov

Jan 16, 2020

What could we make if we learned how to manufacture things in space?

Materials Issue #86

To understand the future of space flight, it helps to think about a flock of birds flying in a tight formation. | Stocksy/Giorgio Magini

Jan 14, 2020

Could tiny satellites explore space by flying in flocks?

Transportation & Robotics Issue #87

On a busy freeway, how does a self-driving car make the right decision? | iStock/Art Wager

Sep 27, 2019

Marco Pavone: Autonomous cars will have to manage unpredictable road behavior

Artificial Intelligence, Transportation & Robotics Issue #79

Cantwell's internship involved testing the Lunar Module’s ascent engine that took astronauts off the moon and into orbit. | Image courtesy of NASA

Jul 16, 2019

Brian Cantwell: My Apollo program internship

Technology & Society

The wake caused by a turbine pointing directly into the wind reduces the output of those behind it. | Image courtesy of Calgary Drone Photography

Jul 3, 2019

A tiny tweak could steer wind power in the right direction

Energy, Environment Issue #79

Zac Manchester has long sought to send tiny satellites into space. With NASA, he recently put 105 of them into orbit. | Image courtesy of Linda Cicero

Jun 20, 2019

Researchers bust cost barriers by putting $100 satellites into orbit

Technology & Society, Transportation & Robotics Issue #75

Footage from a successful test of Orion spacecraft parachutes. | Video courtesy of NASA

May 3, 2019

A safe landing on Mars depends in part on an effective parachute

Transportation & Robotics Issue #71

Could plasma power new types of space missions? | Unsplash/Juskteez Vu

Mar 14, 2019

How could we use space’s challenging environment to our advantage?

Energy, Environment, Technology & Society Issue #69

Could paraffin wax, the stuff candles are made of, fuel future NASA missions? | Adobe Stock/Tim Bird

Feb 26, 2019

A rocket fuel made of … wax?

Transportation & Robotics Issue #70

But first, researchers must train algorithms to recognize images of orbiting satellites. | Pixabay

Feb 14, 2019

Artificial intelligence may one day guide ‘tow trucks’ in space

Artificial Intelligence, Transportation & Robotics Issue #65

Grab a warm drink and a cozy spot on the couch and dive into one of these books. | Illustration by Kevin Craft

Dec 19, 2018

An end-of-year reading list from Stanford Engineering

Technology & Society