A team at Oregon State University has taken another step forward toward making walking robots more human-like and energy efficient by equipping them with artificial tendons. Current robotic limbs struggle to recover energy through their springy gait, but the Oregon team introduced steel cable tendons and fibreglass springs made from the same material as archers’ bows, which allows smaller motors to be used.
In humans, 40-percent of energy expended during walking and running is stored in the tendons; robots can be programmed to adopt a similar gait, but that requires a lot of energy and even then the results are poor. The new system uses the motors to store energy in the springs. Each can store a kilojoule of energy per kilogram. A motor providing the same power on its own would weigh 30 times as much as the spring does. Walking better means walking faster. Walking faster means you can’t run away. Somebody should tell the Oregon State team to slow down. Or at least equip their bots with a chip that gives humans a ten second head start.
You might have noticed an eerie resemblence between Saul Tigh/Laura Roslin and Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin. Are McCain/Palin involved in a vast conspiracy involving Republicans and Cylons?
While I spent countless summer days playing Super Mario and Donkey Kong Country on my Super Nintendo, some of my contemporaries were entranced by the Genesis. You may wonder why I didn’t have a Genesis, despite the awesomeness of Sonic—well, it wasn’t just because I never got one for Christmas. No, actually it was because even as a child I had incredible foresight, and I predicted that Sega would one day curse the earth with some vile robotic thing. My efforts were those of preemptive boycott fueled by a Nostradamus-like vision of a future overrun by robots. That future has arrived, and I can finally utter a resounding “What’d I tellya?”.
The destroyer takes a most counterintuitive form—that of a cute little puppy. But this is no living, breathing puppy, but rather a mechanical, feelingless beast. Sega calls it “Lucky” and although it looks far less sinister than Sony’s AIBO, it is equally evil. Lucky’s not yet available in the US. Lucky can bark and do tricks like handstands….::sigh:: I guess he does look kinda harmless. Aw Lucky, I love you! Woof Woof Woof GRRRR
What the..! Chomp Chomp Hooowwwl
Nooooo! I’m dead now. [CNET]
Dr. Thomas Ings and Professor Lars Chittka from Queen Mary, University of London, are on a mission—scare the crap out of some bees.
In nature, bumblebees and pollinating insects are hunted by crab spiders. These sick bastards lie in wait on flowers, camouflaging themselves, until a bee comes along for them to eat. The research duo sought to discover how a brush with a crab spider would affect the foraging habits of bumblebees.
They tested the situation by setting up robotic crab spiders in varying levels of camo. When an unsuspecting bee landed on a robospider, an optic sensor triggered a little foam claw to snap on the bee and then let it go. Ings and Chittka then used 3D tracking software to monitor the bees’ movements. They found that bees that had been captured were more careful after the incident. The affected bees lost foraging time but also were less likely to land on another spider flower.
Spiders are scary, and robots are scary, so a combination of the two is just horrifying, especially for bumblebees. Wait for robotic crab spiders to displace real crab spiders, and robotic crabs to displace real crabs, and robotic VD clinicians to displace real VD clinicians.
This gigantic model won the Best Mecha award at last weekend’s BrickFair. It definitely looks hungry for human blood. I mean, it has it’s own structural supports! Keep your other LEGOS away from this bad boy.
Dog Wan (”Wan” means bow-wow in Japanese, and also “Watch, Assist, Nurse”) from Daisen Denshi Kogyo has passed the prototype stage after four more months of development. The robot was designed to resemble an old-style robot to make it more familiar and friendlier. It weighs 5kg, which is about a puppy’s weight, and it uses 24 axes to move.
Dog Wan can shake its tail, move its head, run around, and it will even carry your shopping bag in its mouth to help you out. Dog Wan is available for rental at $185 to $280 monthly for up to 5 years. It’s pretty cute as far as robot dogs go. If a robot animal is going to turn on me one day, I’d like it to be this one.
This badass robot spider was in the streets of Liverpool. So what’s going on? A few months ago a full-sized UFO was in Potters Fields Park. Supposedly the spider is part of La Machine. I’m guessing it might have something to do with the 2009 seasons of either Doctor Who or Torchwood. Think about it, those are probably the only two sci-fi shows in the UK that have a decent budget. That’s a damn scary looking robo-spider!
Check out these handcrafted sculptures by Pennsylvania artist Toby Atticus Fraley, assembled from vintage found objects. Some of the robot personalities include rock star, an amputee robot, even Slim Pickens riding a nuke in Dr. Strangelove.
They aren’t just small works either, they’re sizable ranging in height from about 28″ tall to 58″ tall and they light up. He has a unique style that refreshing to see in Robot sculptural art, probably due to his heavy use of coolers and vacuum parts. He’s even been making some cool remotes to turn the lights on from afar. I might consider Toby for some architectural projects I have in mind for rebuilding the slums of Botropolis. Damn good stuff!
This robot is an energy whore. He just hangs around a light source to get charged and then wanders around to find another light source for energy. Dude, don’t bogart the power. His name is Anomalie and he’s basically a four-legged zombie who bumps into things on his quest.
Anomalie’s two servos keep the aluminum bot on its feet, though. He’s not completely dumb. He won’t stick to a single direction. He’ll move backwards, forward, left, right and side-to-side. The creator invested 20 hours and $40 in it’s creation.
Since you’re a mix of the hairiest nationalities and you decided to shave off all your body hair for hydrodynamic drag reduction and one of your three huskies is getting chemo and your wife is balding, it’s time to consider the new Roomba. Three new models have been added to iRobot’s Roomba line; the 610 Professional Series, and the 532 and 562 Pet Series Robots.
The Professional Series is aimed at…professionals. It can go into “Max Mode” to clean very large rooms. The 610 is intended for big office spaces or high traffic areas. It has an extra large bin as well as an interchangeable extra bin.
The Pet Series bots have larger bins and special accessories to pick up more fur and dander than the previous models. Counter-rotating brushes let the Pet Series robots get deep down into your grimy, hairy carpet. The 532 can clean up to three rooms on one charge. The 562 has extra brushes, a longer charge, and can be programmed with a cleaning schedule; it is unquestionably a hair eating machine (not unlike that demonic Cabbage Patch doll from 1996).
The 532 and 562 cost $350 and $450 respectively. The 610 Professional is $600, and all three are available now from iRobot.
While I spent countless summer days playing Super Mario and Donkey Kong Country on my Super Nintendo, some of my contemporaries were entranced by the Genesis. You may wonder why I didn’t have a Genesis, despite the awesomeness of Sonic—well, it wasn’t just because I never got one for Christmas. No, actually it was because even as a child I had incredible foresight, and I predicted that Sega would one day curse the earth with some vile robotic thing. My efforts were those of preemptive boycott fueled by a Nostradamus-like vision of a future overrun by robots. That future has arrived, and I can finally utter a resounding “What’d I tellya?”.
Dr. Thomas Ings and Professor Lars Chittka from Queen Mary, University of London, are on a mission—scare the crap out of some bees.
Since you’re a mix of the hairiest nationalities and you decided to shave off all your body hair for hydrodynamic drag reduction and one of your three huskies is getting chemo and your wife is balding, it’s time to consider the new Roomba. Three new models have been added to iRobot’s Roomba line; the 610 Professional Series, and the 532 and 562 Pet Series Robots.