Because Robots!

HyTAQ, The Robot That Could Fly (And Roll)

By Matt Wang | Published: December 14, 2012

For most aerial vehicles, it is difficult to maintain energy efficiency when they have to work against gravity. On the other hand, most ground-restricted vehicles do not have the freedom that aerial vehicles do. At the same time, it seems difficult to combine the two.

HyTAQ hybrid quadrotor robot travels by air and land, leaves us no place to hide video

The HyTAQ (Hybrid Terrestrial and Aerial Quadrotor) is unique in that it has four rotors for stable flight, but is also surrounded by a cylindrical cage made of polycarbonate and carbon fiber. Additionally, HyTAQ uses the same actuators for flying as for moving on the ground, so no extra actuators need to be carried.

But why have something that can move in the air as well as the ground? Well to start off, as mentioned in the beginning, it’s more efficient. It can operate six times more than an aerial-only plane, while still maintaining the ability of aerial movement. By having both aerial and terrestrial mobility, a robot can change its movement depending on the situation, and traverse obstacles that terrestrial-only vehicles can’t. The cage acts as a shock absorber when the robot moves in the air and might crash into things, and also allows the robot to fly even in difficult wind situations. Of course, its terrestrial functions also allow it to move on the ground and avoid strong winds at the same time.

The cage also allows the robot to move irregardless of rotational position. The cage itself is held loosely onto the quadrotor, so no matter how much the cage spins, the rotors stay parallel to the ground, allowing for maximum stability.

All in all, HyTAQ is revolutionary because it increases efficiency and is a much less complex robot than another aerial and terrestrial hybrid machine would be. Plus, it looks really cool, bouncing along erratically while its center stays strong and balanced.

Posted in Images, Videos | Tagged COOL, Engineering, Flying, Vehicles | Leave a comment

Kenshiro: The Robot with Muscles

By Matt Wang | Published: December 11, 2012

We’ve seen a wide arrangement of biologically-inspired robots lately. But this next one might scare you a bit, since it does take a substantial leap into the robopocalyptic future. This robot, made by the University of Tokyo and coined Kenshiro, has human-like bones and muscles, one step closer to having humanoid robots that move just like us.

Kenshiro is made to mimic the body of the average Japanese 12-year-old male, with a height of 158 cm (5’2″) and a weight of 50 kg (110 lbs). His body is built to mimic almost all of the muscles found in the human body, using 160 pulley-like “muscles” to move its joints all around. These are no ordinary pulleys, though. While most usually follow the conventional point-to-point system that stretch only between specific points, larger planar (sheet-like) muscles are used that are flatter and wider. These planar muscles only require one motor to control, making the entire robot much stabler and more freedom of movement.

Also, Kenshiro’s bones are quite a spectacle. Made of aluminum, they are sturdier than their prototypes, and feature numerous improvements, such as an incredible rib cage and better knee joints (with the cruciate ligament and the kneecap). Such bones will eventually make the robot to be able to sustain injury better and with more support.

With improvements in muscle torque and joint speeds, Kenshiro can almost do everything that humans can, such as the gymnastics-like leg stretching in the video. Still, Kenshiro’s joint angular speed isn’t as fast as a humans, with only 70-100 degrees per second. Before this is solved, robots will probably not be physically superior to humans in a humanoid state, but they’re catching up quickly.

Posted in Images, Videos | Tagged Engineering, Humanoid | Leave a comment

EASE Hovercraft

By Matt Wang | Published: December 7, 2012

The existence of flight robotics is tenuous at best. Its primary problem comes from finding ways to fuel the robot efficiently while still maintaining functionality, which has caused problems in the past. But this newest creation by CyPhy Works takes an innovative and yet somehow also strange perspective on this issue.

The EASE robot hovercraft is actually pretty cool as a robot itself. It can fly through doors and windows, and uses a ducted-fan design. This basically means that it uses a fan/propeller mounted within a cylinder or duct-like area. This sort of design allows the EASE to takeoff and land vertically, as well as hover in air. In addition, the EASE hovercraft is portable too, with a diameter of only 12 inches and height of 16 inches, this robot can easily be carries in a backpack.

Unfortunately, the EASE otherwise suffers from short-term battery problems. If using the on-board batteries, it can only last for a little less than an hour. Although hot-swapping (the ability to replace the battery without having the shut down the system) alleviates this problem a little bit, it’s still not a very efficient solution, especially if you need to use it for a long time and can’t afford to carry around hundreds of batteries. EASE solves this by having a microfilament that connects to the ground control system, and thus keep the robot powered through a power grid. This microfilament is even thinner than a headphone cable! In addition, the microfilament is spooled, adjusting to just the right quantity to feed out so the line will never be stressed or strained.

What do you use this amazing movement capabilities for? You could use them for search and rescue, with their ability to maneuver through difficult terrain and human buildings. And with two on-board HD cameras, (one front looking and other down looking) with an optional thermal camera, you can take pictures constantly as you drag the robot around like a balloon. Even better, the microfilament connection allows 720p video at 30 fps to be monitored in real time, because there is an actual physical connection between the robot and control system.

Of course, some would argue that this UAV can be used to track down people in the apocalypse no matter how much we blockade our buildings. Let’s be optimistic can’t we?

Posted in Images, Videos | Tagged COOL, Flying, Futuristic | Leave a comment

Romotive: Personal Robot

By Matt Wang | Published: December 3, 2012

Ever since the movies of personal robots first came into existence, mankind has dreamed of having one of their own. But so far, many of these personal robots have been on both extremes of the spectrum, either plastic toys or incredibly expensive machines. With Romotive, however, a mere iPhone or iPod Touch can be used to make an incredibly cute robot.

There are only two things required to use Romotive: the app, and the robot base that has the wheels and the complex circuitry. This robot is interesting because it gives the robot a sort of “mind of its own” while still maintaining the relative simplicity and low cost of an iPhone for control. And the robot itself is called Romo.

Meanwhile, Romo can be controlled from another iDevice, another iPhone or maybe an iPad. Romo’s screen can show emotions, as it pouts, smiles, laughs, growls, and giggles for a user’s amusement. But it can also be put in free range (autonomous) and dance modes. With the Romo, an iPhone can be set free, while still giving data to the user. In the video below, it roams the streets of Las Vegas, where the eighteen developers were packed into one apartment as they created this magnificent robot and formed the company. It can give active video to the user, allowing for long distance communication when the robot moves itself.

Another appealing part of the Romo is that the creators made a robot API so that users could program it and make their programs accessible to more people as well, and “upgrade” the robot based on other peoples’ creations. It’s almost like a robot that can keep getting better without having to get newer versions.

And the final reason why it’s the best? Its many customizable faces and the ease of use for people who have no programming knowledge whatsoever. And with new perks like facial recognition and “emotions” towards its owner, the Romo will indeed be the personal robot that everyone wants.

Posted in Images | Tagged COOL, Futuristic, Humanoid | Leave a comment

Kuratas Battle Mech

By Matt Wang | Published: December 1, 2012

Oh boy have I got to get one of these. This hulking goliath moves around like a boss and is the newest vehicle and awesome fighter. At 13 feet tall and weighing 4.4 tons but carrying a hefty price tag, this monster is just too legit.

This simple how-to video displays the basic functions of the Kuratas robot. It can move around at 10 km/hr, and the video shows it chugging along a little road as trucks are dwarfed in its shadow. It uses 30 hydraulic joints to move around, and can be controlled directly from the cockpit using a touch-pad and control functions or a 3G connection from outside the robot. In addition, the Kuratas features a master-slave function, which uses a miniature model of the robot to act like a voodoo doll for the full-size one.

But of course, this might not convince you. It’s a big robot that doesn’t even drive that fast, not to mention that no one’s really sure whether it’s street-legal yet. But even so, the Kuratas has an advanced weaponry system. It features two kinds of weapons; one is the “Lohas Launcher” which fires missiles with water, and the other is a gatling gun that can shoot 6,000 BB bullets per minute.

And the best part? It features a phone inside the cockpit, so you can call your friends and tell them that you’re coming over to destroy them.

Posted in Videos | Tagged COOL, Fun, Futuristic, Humanoid, Vehicles | Leave a comment

Mechbass Robotic Guitar

By Matt Wang | Published: November 29, 2012

And it looks like robots everywhere will be jazzing up the world of music. And their newest ally? Mechbass, the Robotic Guitar. Another musician here to rock out the party and play some legit music.

The Mechbass was made by a Victoria University of Wellington student called James McVay, for his honors project. Using SolidWorks to design the robot, and laser-cutting and 3D printing parts, he assembled it all by himself.

The Mechbass is similar to a regular bass guitar in most ways; it has four strings, each horizontal bar containing one string. Rather than frets (raised portions of the neck of a regular string instrument) the Mechbass uses its pitch shifter with an aluminum carriage slide across the string to do the same thing as frets. And for the tensioning system, regular bass machine heads are used.

However, there’s one key way that they are fundamentally different. Bass guitars generally use magnetic pickup to capture string vibrations and convert it to sound, but because of the material that this project was made with, using electromagnetic sensing wouldn’t be accurate. Instead, this robot uses infrared emitter and phototransistor to send and receive sound information, all to become one rocking song.

Posted in Videos | Tagged Convenient, COOL, Music | Leave a comment

Robot Water Snake

By Matt Wang | Published: November 27, 2012

Now I’ll admit; this probably isn’t one of the most appealing robots to think about when considering just what might lurk under the depths of water. Originally, you could only find dangers like sharks or irukandji jellyfish in the ocean, but this robotic snake could show up in your backyard! Though hopefully that won’t be for a while and people don’t start freaking out…

Its name is ACM-R5. It twas built by HiBot, developed by Japan’s Hirose Fukishima Lab. And it totally autonomous, ready to sneak away and show up in any given body of water. In this case, in Hollywood.

ACM-R5 is more special than that though. Each section of the snake has its own processor, battery, and motor, allowing them to work independently of all of the other sections. On the other hand, they are all able to communicate with each other to keep everything in sync. What’s more, these sections are so versatile that they can be easily added or removed to give this robot snake the proper length it needs to carry out a job.

Scientists believe that the ACM-R5 could be used for surveillance or search and rescue. And with the ability to swim fluidly through the water, this seems very much a reality for the future. Just make sure that you check the water before diving in next time.

Posted in Videos | Tagged Bio-Robot | Leave a comment