Archive for July 9th, 2008

Brian Hart’s 20 year old son was killed in Iraq in 2003. He could have just grieved and moved on, but he turned to engineering instead, founding Black-I Robotics to build unmanned ground vehicles for recon, explosives and hazard work. Hart’s story is powerful because of the irony. You see, after taking the government to task for leading soldiers into dangerous situations, he actually began work as a defense contractor in order to develop cheaper, more well-rounded machines that will get more soldiers out of harm’s way. Last week the company got another $800,000 contract from the government’s Technical Support Working Group. In effect the death of his son will lead to lives saved. That makes this a father son hero team.

[Physorg]

Our favorite makers of home robots, iRobot, won’t be satisfied until one of their creations kills us dead at home under the guise of cleaning or tidying up. One day your local police will have a special RV unit. That stands for Robotics Victim.

Anywho, iRobot knows that the grass is always greener with a robot mowing it. That’s why they filed a iPatent for a lawn-mowing robot. It’s an 84-page filing with a variety of configurations, even an all-electric model and gas-electric hybrid. Some have acoustic and optical sensors that would seem to allow the robot to “avoid hard surfaces, water and other barriers”. Look, I’m on board with any bot you wanna put in my home. All I ask is that it’s aware of the fact that my heart pulled through my chest will kill me dead. Well, that and I want it to not be thrilled with that image.

[Slipperybrick]

It ain’t pretty, but it gets the job done. What you see is a bunch of polymorph plastic, curtain rods, electric screwdrivers, and motors. Wooden sockets and curtain rings are the hip joints. Knee joints are kept moving with four motors, while a bunch of bungee cords and strings serve as muscles and tendons. The electric screwdrivers provide power for rotation. It looks small but the legs are 26-inches tall by themselves. It’s still in the making. Hit the link for more.

[Hacked Gadgets]