We’ve covered our share of snakebots here at Botropolis, and they are all creepy. Unfortunately, they do serve a purpose. They will help in extreme danger situations, where human life hangs in the balance. With the construction industry building buildings higher and higher, robots may save the lives of construction workers performing dangerous tasks at high altitudes.(Why saveus only to kill us later?)
The Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech won the grand prize at the 2008 International Capstone Design Fair by designing a family of robots dubbed “HyDRAS and CIRCA,” which can climb scaffolding and buildings by wrapping around a poll or beam and then rolling upward using an oscillating joint motion. The robots are light in weight because they use compressed air to power them on in their climb.
Both of the robots are operated by a wire connected to central controls on the ground for now, but they will be wireless soon. Hopefully the new set of robots will save thousands of lives of construction workers, instead of constricting us and pumping us full of robo-venom.
When last we left Norwegian research company, the Sintef Group, they had announced that they’ve been working on their own robotic serpents. Looks like they have come a long way in a short amount of time. The snake bot now has a clever name. Anna Konda. And she has been fitted with what amounts to a super soaker.
Anna Konda is 3 meters long, weighs in at 75 kilos, and has 20 joints, each of which has 33 degrees of movement. It shoots water sure, but it’s also powered by H2O. In each joint section there are hydraulic valves and cylinders that can handle as much as 1450 psi of water pressure.
One disadvantage to being water powered is that the robot will likely have to be near a water source, but that won’t slow it’s slither. Anna Konda is designed to be a fire fighting snake after all. The high water pressure has the added advantage of making it stronger while keeping it’s components cool which is a bonus when fighting fires. Video below.
Researchers from Israel are working on a swallowable camera that can be used to diagnose and treat illnesses. This camera would be controlled by robotic technology and can potentially provide valuable insight into the functioning of a patient’s internal organs. Researchers from Italy, France, Switzerland and Spain are getting in on the action too and have formed a collaboration called the ARES, and are working on multi-capsules that are like snakes and can self-assemble inside a patient’s stomach.
They would perform functions like like imaging, power, and taking samples as well as other complex tasks. It’s a work in progress. Battery size is the main issue as it takes up more than 60% of the volume. Once they work that out humans will be popping bots like they pop pills.
Norwegian research company, the Sintef Group recently announced that they’ve been working on their own robotic serpents. It doesn’t look as cool as Japan’s latest creepy crawly, but that’s not the point. The point is that the sooner we create completely lifelike robot serpents, the sooner they can inject us with robot made venom. But I’m getting ahead of myself. These robots are designed to slither down complex networks of industrial piping systems where Mario and Luigi won’t go, in order to clear the residue or to repair the broken patches. The snakes are made of aluminum and are 1.5 meters long, lightweight and flexible, so they can slither up even to high altitudes. They can also submerge themselves under fluid. And by fluid, I mean your biological waste included.
Like Indy, I hate snakes. Robot snakes are nearly as bad since they can move just as well as the real deal and kill you dead. Meet the ACM-R5, an amphibious robot snake that will get your guests out of the pool real quick. It was developed by the boffins at the Hirose Fukushima Lab in Japan. Video below.
ACM-R5 is equipped with paddles and passive wheels around the body. To generate propulsive force by undulation, the robot need a resistance property as it glides freely in tangential direction but cannot in normal direction. Due to the paddles and passive wheels, ACM-R5 obtains that character both in water and on ground.
I’d like to personally thank them for adding whole new level of creepiness to robots and I look forward to dying in it’s grasp one hot summer day when the pool beckons. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve covered our share of snakebots here at Botropolis, and they are all creepy. Unfortunately, they do serve a purpose. They will help in extreme danger situations, where human life hangs in the balance. With the construction industry building buildings higher and higher, robots may save the lives of construction workers performing dangerous tasks at high altitudes.(Why saveus only to kill us later?)
