Because Robots!

Underwater Sniffer Bot

By Owen Li | Published: October 26, 2014

Contraband smugglers beware: A new underwater robot can now sniff out your “goods” hidden “cleverly” aboard your ships.

Developed by researchers at MIT, the football-sized robot, equipped with ultrasound sensors, can ride along the underbelly of a cargo ship along its flat edge to scan the ship’s contents and discover fake hulls and propeller shafts, which are commonly used by smugglers to hide contraband. The robot’s propulsion system is also designed to minimize visible wake, and is ideal for stealth, underwater patrols…etc.

The propulsion system is made up of pumps at either end of the bot, which expel water through rubber tubes to move forwards and backwards. The robot can use these different pumps to push itself against the hull of the ship it wishes to inspect.

This bot is now on the military’s radar, who want to use it not only for detecting contraband, but also for finding stress fractures in the hulls of ships and other vessels.

Posted in Images | Tagged 3D printing, COOL, Engineering, Military, Robot | Leave a comment

OctoBot

By Owen Li | Published: October 5, 2014

Just when you thought it was safe to run into the water to escape the land-robot madness, here comes the Octobot!

Swimming at a blistering 7 inches a second, the Octobot, developed by the Institute of Computer Science in Greece, is inspired by the common octopus, using eight arms to swim and chase down its prey.

Posted in Images, Links, Videos | Tagged Bio-Robot, COOL, Fun | 2 Comments

Moving 3-D Printer

By Owen Li | Published: September 24, 2014

While 3D printers are able to print virtually anything, the size of what’s able to be printed is limited by how big the printer is. Well, that isn’t a problem anymore!

Researchers from Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janiero have made a 3D printer on wheels. With 4 omni-directional wheels and an extruder that points out of its body, the bot can stuff as large as your table/surface can allow.

It’s controlled by an Arduino and could be wirelessly controlled from a computer. Take a look.

Posted in Images, Videos | Tagged 3D printing, Convenient, COOL, Robot, Vehicles | Leave a comment

Robotic hand performs underwater tasks

By Owen Li | Published: September 14, 2014

To touch, or not to touch. For this robot, the answer is the former, always the former. A hand with three digits, the robot designed by Achint Aggarwal and his team at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Bremen lives to examine the depths of the ocean by touch.

With underwater visibility hampered by impurities and/or sediments in the water, objects and extremely difficult to locate and manipulate. To look past the waters’ impurities, Aggarwal’s team made the hand, which could be attached to an undersea vehicle. Built-in sensors in the hand can track changes in texture, movement, and pressures as it moves around. It can then use that information to make a map of the object and make a guess about what it might be, with 90% accuracy.

Posted in Images | Tagged COOL, Engineering, Exploration, Robot | Leave a comment

Indestructible robot crawls through fire

By Owen Li | Published: September 12, 2014

Try to burn it, run it over, or freeze it, and it just keeps on crawling. Developed by Michael Tolly of Harvard University and his team, the pink X-shaped robot is completely soft, with no rigid skeleton.

At 65 centimeters long, this robot has a battery capable of running for 2 hours on a single charge, and an air compressor system that drives its pneumatic motion. With a flexible body that can navigate through small spaces, and designed to be used in harsh terrain, this robot is ideal for search-and-rescue missions. It can work in temperatures reaching -9 °C, and can withstand fire for 20 seconds, get run over by a car, and resist water and acids.

Posted in Images, Videos | Tagged Bio-Robot, COOL, Engineering, Fun, Off-road, Robot, soft | Leave a comment

Motorized Couch

By Owen Li | Published: September 10, 2014

We all have those days where we have to get up and go to school/work, but just want to stay on your couch. Now, you can do both at the same time!

Built by engineering students in the University of South Wales, the couch utilizes 4 independent mecanum wheels (which allow for omni-directional movement), which are powered by electric scooter motors, and is controlled by a Raspberry Pi board. The users control the couch using a Xbox controller, and can relax while they ride around.

The students are still working on outfitting the couch with sensors to allow it to move autonomously. Now that would be pretty sweet.

Posted in Videos | Tagged Convenient, COOL, couch, Engineering, Fun, Vehicles | Leave a comment

Vampire-bot uses blood for art

By Owen Li | Published: September 3, 2014

Robots can do anything these days; they can drive cars, engage in conversation, and can even play soccer! But this robot is special. While most robots perform their respective talents with nothing but electricity, Ghost In The Machine needs to drink its creator’s blood to work.

Luckily, the robot didn’t suck its creator, Ted Lawson, dry, but did use his blood to draw a life-sized portrait of him, which I guess blood is great for these days. And now that robots are developing a taste for human blood, don’t be surprised if you see a pack of robots drinking from a blood-red fountain anytime soon.

Posted in Videos | Tagged vampire | Leave a comment