I’m not going to lie. When I heard about it… I thought it was a joke. What use could a tentacle arm possibly have? Then, the European Robotics Commission funds the project and I take it a bit more seriously But what exactly is the appeal of having an octopus? The conceptual design for the robot includes the […]
By autonomously navigating the water’s surface, Seaswarm proposes a new system for ocean-skimming and oil removal. Seaswarm uses a photovoltaic powered conveyor belt made of a thin nanowire mesh to propel itself and collect oil. The nanomaterial, patented at MIT, can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil. The flexible conveyor belt softly rolls […]
Scientists from the University of Cambridge are using robotics from the LEGO MINDSTORMS robot set to help produce samples of synthetic bone tissue. The team uses hydroxyapatite-gelatin composites to create the synthetic bone, which has low energy costs and improved similarity to the tissues they are intended to replace. Synthetic bone can provide a vast […]
Imagine a cardboard version of Pixar’s Wall-e character, but with added über-cute human voice, and you’ve got a fair picture of Boxie, Alexander Reben’s documentary-video-making robot. “The idea was to create a robot that was interesting enough for people to engage with it and offer to help it, carrying it around and up and down […]
The use of ground robots in military explosive-ordinance-disposal missions already saves many lives and prevents thousands of other casualties. If the current limitations on mobility and manipulation capabilities of robots can be overcome, robots could potentially assist warfighters across a greater range of missions. DARPA’s Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program seeks to create and […]
This video left me speechless. Some amazing geometry going on here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7j5jtVFmXI&feature=related +50
