This IDTechEx premium article summarises the political discussion, highlighting key themes from the plenary session of the 3rd European Connected and Automated Driving conference. There are also summaries of presentations given by representatives from the European Commission, Continental, Valeo, Faurecia and more.

At the crossroads between robotics and nanotechnology, a goal that is highly sought after is finding ways to leverage the action of tiny molecular motors to perform more sizeable tasks in a controllable manner.

New autonomous robotic technology has the potential to become the 'apple of my eye' for Australia's food industry as it deals with labour shortages and an increased demand for fresh produce.

There are about 40 developers of robot shuttles. These are defined on the next page but, of course, some target variants of this.

A multidisciplinary team developing an immersive avatar system that enables remote human connection has advanced to the semifinals for the $10 million ANA Avatar XPRIZE competition.

The Autonomous Weeder leverages robotics, artificial intelligence, and laser technology to safely and effectively drive through crop fields to identify, target and eliminate weeds.

An expedition led by UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical DDT in sediments and the ecosystem. The survey identified an excess of 27,000 targets with high confidence to be classified as a barrel, and an excess of 100,000 total debris objects on the seafloor.

Motorists could see self-driving vehicles on British roads for the first time later this year, the Department for Transport has announced today. Following a landmark call for evidence, the government has set out how vehicles fitted with Automated Lane Keeping System technology could legally be defined as self-driving, as long as they receive GB type approval and that there is no evidence to challenge the vehicle's ability to self-drive.

By utilizing a single collaborative robot arm, this ARMM platform (Advanced Robotics for Magnetic Manipulation) could potentially fit easily into the OR while ensuring a small footprint.

Being unable to walk quickly can be frustrating and problematic, but it is a common issue, especially as people age. Noting the pervasiveness of slower-than-desired walking, engineers have tested how well a prototype exoskeleton system they have developed - which attaches around the shin and into a running shoe - increased the self-selected walking speed of people in an experimental setting.

Ever wondered why your virtual home assistant doesn't understand your questions? Or why your navigation app took you on the side street instead of the highway? Italian researchers designed a robot that "thinks out loud" so that users can hear its thought process and better understand the robot's motivations and decisions.

A multi-disciplinary team is driving environmental and societal change by developing novel affordable and simple to manufacture QuickFitting textile multi-point pressure sensing strips for real-time monitoring in the medical and healthcare sector for potential use in areas such as prosthetic fit and bandage compression therapy for leg ulcers.

Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the field of biological robots by developing new biobots based on muscle cells that can swim at unprecedented velocities.

The growing list of "firsts" for Perseverance, NASA's newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planet's thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen. A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the task.

Rockwell Automation Inc and Comau are joining forces to give businesses worldwide vital tools to maximize manufacturing efficiencies through unified robot control solutions.

Drones could soon be adopted as essential tools for various agricultural tasks; however, with respect to their use in farm management, research is still lacking. To address this issue, researchers in Japan compared drones to well-established technologies for spraying pesticide over rice paddy fields. Using statistical data, the researchers explore both advantages and limitations of drones and whether they currently offer an edge regarding costs, capacity, and management efficiency.

Equinor is introducing autonomous ATEX-certified robots on their oil and gas installations. Its robot will be used to conduct routine inspection and maintenance tasks on offshore installations.

The snake-like robot can now slither its way underwater, allowing the modular robotics platform to inspect ships, submarines and infrastructure for damage.

Electrical Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft (eVTOL) are moving from science fiction to reality, enabled by rapid advancements in electric motor, battery, and computing technology, the new report from IDTechEx, "Air Taxis: Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Aircraft 2021-2041", finds.