Robot Defies Gravity
Published June 27th, 2007 in Military The VMRP robot climbs walls and ceilings, taking eavesdropping to a new level. Using vortex or “tornado in a cup” technology, this little robot can easily climb and hang onto a variety of surfaces such as glass, marble, concrete and ceiling tiles. To help the robot accomplish this feat, it’s creaters, Vortex HC, have made it 6.5 ” long x 8.5″ wide and weigh only 1.87 lbs. Depending on it’s mission, it will go for 20 to 40 minutes. A six wheeled posi-traction drive-train helps it transition from ground to wall.This tiny bot has several optional attachments including cameras, boom arms and pan tilt units. As far as we can tell, this is one amazing, gravity defying mobile video camera.
VMRP was recently put through it’s paces at Disaster City. This 52 acre facility is affiliated with Texas A&M University. Sponsored in part by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the week long simulations were meant to evaluate robots and come up with standards for evaluating robots. We can only hope this technology stays in our military and doesn’t end up in the hands of peeping toms. Check out the video of the robot climbing a Days Inn and peering over the roof. No word on a release date or if it will be available to the public. |
Amazing spybot. Wasn’t someone developing a robot that could climb trees?
A robot that can climb trees can be important in the War Against Wildfire. One group of fires in southern California cost $6 billion. Low wage immigrant labor can pick up and clip all dead branches on the ground and within the first 2 meters, but should be supplemented by robots that are programmed to distinguish between live and dead branches, and clip or saw the dead ones off.
Researchers at the University of Magdeburg/Stendal have developed a beetle-shaped robot that can detect and put out fires, and patrol a forest at speeds up to ten km/hr.