Robot Living

A group of researchers led by Aaron Dollar from Yale University have developed an autonomous helicopter that can pick up objects.  Yale Aerial Manipulator as the robot is called, could be used in hard to reach places or for removing things like bombs.

The robotic helicopter can reach speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour and pick up objects weighing up to two kilograms. The robotic hand is made up of four fingers, made from lightweight plastic.

This seems like it could be good for search and rescue operations if outfitted with a camera.  It couldn’t pick up injured people, but could potentially bring them supplies like food and water until real help arrives.  Or it could be used for removing bombs from dangerous situations.

Click through for a video demonstration.

Link via (Technology Review)
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Tags: UAV, Yale University

Researchers at Stanford University have created a climbing robot that has sticky feet, like those found on a gecko.  A team led by Mark Cutkosky, a professor at Stanford, have created Stickybot II.

Stickybot III uses special feet to cling to any surface.  The robot also has a long tail that helps decrease the weight load each sticky foot has to bear. The feet, inspired by a gecko, are made up of tiny hairs, each about 5 times smaller than a human hair.

The interaction between the molecules of gecko toe hair and the wall is a molecular attraction called van der Waals force. A gecko can hang and support its whole weight on one toe by placing it on the glass and then pulling it back. It only sticks when you pull in one direction – their toes are a kind of one-way adhesive, Cutkosky said.

A while back, Carnegie Mellon had also been working on a gecko inspired robot.

I wonder which gecko inspired robot would win in a race?

Click through to see Stickybot III do his Spiderman thing.

Stanford News & Stanford Biomimetics Lab

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Tags: Stanford University

MIT in conjunction with Draper Laboratory is developing a robot known as Talaris or Terrestrial Artificial Lunar and Reduced Gravity Simulator.  This robot will be used on the Moon or other planet to hop over the rough terrain, instead of using wheels or treads.

The three foot wide robot will weigh about 110 pounds and currently has two propulsion systems.  It has four fans used to help simulate the correct gravity for wherever it will be going and a nitrogen gas system to actually do the thrusting and maneuvering.  The robot will be able to make hops of hundreds of kilometers, depending on it’s final size.

MIT and Draper Laboratory are part of a team called Next Giant Leap and are aiming for the Lunar X Prize.  They have until the end of 2014 to get Talaris to the moon to try and claim the Lunar X Prize.

Last we heard, Boston Dynamics was also working on  a hopping robot, but in their case it is for DARPA.

Link via (EE Times)

Tags: Draper Laboratory, MIT

We have seen robotic chairs before, such as Take A Seat by Jelte van Geest and even a Brain Controlled Wheelchair, but never a smart wheelchair that follows you around.

The wheelchair, developed at Saitama University in Japan, uses distance senors to stay far enough to your left as to not get in your way.  The robot also watches your shoulders to know which way you may be turning.  It is even smart enough to know to follow you single file in a crowded hallway.

Also, more than one wheelchair can follow a single person.  No word though on how you get the wheelchair to select who they follow.

The idea here is to use these in hospitals and other facilities where people need care.  They are currently being tested in the field.

Click through for a video.

Link via (CrunchGear)

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Tags: japan

Orca, a robotic glider from the University of East Anglia in Norwich England has recently made it’s 1000th dive off the coast of Spain.

The underwater robot can operate autonomously or be controlled by satellite and is being used to monitor water conditions such as temperature, salt levels, cloudiness and current.

A team led by Dr Jan Kaiser and Professor Karen Heywood from the University of East Anglia has partnered with the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas in Vigo to undertake this project.

The glider rises or sinks using a buoyancy engine with internal and external reservoirs and an electric pump to move oil between the two, which changes its density. We control it all the way from Norwich, by sending commands via Iridium satellite communications. ‘Orca’ has already clocked up more than 1000 dives on its current mission.

Off the west coast of the Iberian peninsula, upwelling of deep waters is a recurring phenomenon in summer and our current glider mission will provide one of the most detailed studies to date of the changes in the water column during and after an upwelling event. Upwelling brings nutrients to the surface, which are vital to sustaining biological production and fish yields, an important factor in Vigo, Europe’s largest fishing port.

You can see a map and plot points of where Orca has been diving here.

Link via (EDP24)

Tags: University of East Anglia