autonomous bots – Techdirt (original) (raw)
Stories filed under: "autonomous bots"
DailyDirt: Creepy (But Useful?) Robots
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robot locomotion is a fascinating field of study, and it’s mesmerizing to watch robots walk around like zombies, even if these robots aren’t entirely practical or useful just yet. Presumably, these robots will someday cross the uncanny valley and move more reliably and smoothly. Until then, however, biomimicry for robots seems wide open to a variety of human-like or insect-like or worm-like combinations. (Watch out for centaur-like robot patents!)
- A humanoid diving robot called OceanOne that can swim pretty deep underwater with impressive dexterity. It’s not autonomous (yet), but as a remote-controlled robot, it will be able to explore fragile deep sea ecosystems or underwater shipwrecks much better than more traditional remote operated vehicles. [url]
- NASA is considering a robotic eel to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa — but also soccer ball-like robots (not like BB-8) and other crawling/hopping bots. One unmanned aerial vehicle among the proposals described two gliders tethered to each other that could fly for “years” and perform the duties of an atmospheric satellite. [url]
- An eel-like robot has been developed to be permanently attached to the seabed to inspect and maintain underwater mechanical devices. Its snake-like body can be used in confined areas, and it also shouldn’t give anyone nightmares at all. [url]
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Filed Under: autonomous bots, bio-inspired locomotion, biomimicry, europa, oceanone, robot locomotion, robots, unmanned aerial vehicle
Companies: nasa
DailyDirt: Robots Doing The Heavy Lifting
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robots are cool in so many ways. People usually think of them as huge machines that are clumsy and awkward. However, robots come in all sizes nowadays — and they’re getting smaller while still being able to do some tough jobs. Bots aren’t just vacuuming our floors. They’ll soon do a lot more tasks autonomously and replace a lot of physical labor. Here are just a few examples of robots pulling (sometimes more than) their weight.
- There’s a European robot project, Autonomous Vehicle Emergency Recovery Tool (AVERT), designing robots that can maneuver under a parked car, lift it up and move it someplace else by remote control. These robots only lift a car about an inch off the ground, and they’re supposed to help police and/or security teams to move suspicious cars to safer locations. But it might be nice to have autonomous bots re-park cars…. [url]
- The Muscle Suit is a wearable suit — powered by compressed air that can help people lift heavy objects with minimal effort. It only weighs 12 pounds itself, takes less than a minute to put on, and is controlled.. by a mouthpiece. These kinds of supersuits come in several varieties, but this one is designed to be harmless to the wearer. [url]
- Tiny robots that weigh several grams can pull over a hundred times their own weight. The trick for these bots is a gecko-inspired sticky material combined with an inchworn-like movement. [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: autonomous bots, autonomous vehicle emergency recovery tool, avert, bio-inspired locomotion, biomimicry, muscle suit, robots, wearables