UK’s University of Bath has engineered a robot crab made out of Lego. The purpose of the crab is to explore the ocean depths. Primarily aimed at gas and oil companies, the researchers hope to provide the companies a “vehicle” for exploration. Although, I doubt the Lego frame will withstand the pressures below.
The robot mimics the movement of a crab, but currently, the crab robot can only venture out on land. According to the Charles Gage, a Biomimetics & Technical Creativity MSc student who developed the project, said “Crabs are perfect models for the kind of robot we wanted because they are ‘tried and tested’ amphibious vehicles. We studied the way crabs walk, their posture, gait and stride length. Then we applied this information on a model robot.” He adds that the robot is very stable.
They hope to further development to allow amphibious operations.
Engineered by Boston Dynamics, with funding from DARPA, this four-legged robotic mule can carry 340 pounds of weight through snow, concrete, ice, rubble, and dirt. Dubbed “BigDog”, the monster-looking robot is equipped with super high tech gyroscopes to help maintain its balance, as seen in the video.
With $10 million in funding, I hope they can fix the noise it makes. I think the culprit is the gas-powered motor. Watching the video made me mute the damn volume.
If you have ever owned a dog, playing fetch with it can be tiring. Dogs expect you to keep throwing the ball in a never ending cycle. Hence, the inspiration for the above invention. Check out the Automatic Ball Thrower. It is a machine that takes a tennis ball and throws it for a dog to fetch. Eventually, the dog, like Jerry in the video, will learn to put the fetched ball back into the receiving arm of the machine, for a never ending cycle of play time. The ball thrower also keeps track of how many balls it has thrown.
Ahhh, lazy engineers doing what they do best…
lamgngo, the creator of the machine says it took 2 years of “on and off work.” He says most of his time was spent coding the software to control the machine. Iamgngo also assures people that the ball thrower is equipped with about half a dozen IR sensors to prevent the arm from raising in the event that Jerry gets his teeth caught on the machine.
Not exactly a robot, this little critter, dubbed “Bristlebot 2.0“, is made from an old BIOS chip with a strapped on pager/cell phone vibrator. Alex Gonzalez simply bent the pins on the chip downwards in a slightly forward (or backwards, depending on how you look at it) angle. This allows the vibrating bot to move in one direction, as you can see in the video.
Watch the i-SOBOT practice its putting skills. It can even display its emotions when it misses or makes a putt. It shakes its head when it misses and dances when it makes the putt. It doesn’t even look at the ball when it swings. The i-SOBOT is that pro.
Check out this multi-colored wind up Dancing Robot. According to the product page, back in ancient Egypt, dancing robots were considered entertainment, bringing joy to wealthy merchants and emperors. Who knew robots existed back then?
Now, you can have the same ‘ancient’ good-times with the Dancing Robot. Simply turn the key and let it entertain you. It measures 75 x 20 x 52mm and costs $12.95 New Zealand, that’s about $11 USD. Get it at I Want That. Check out the video for a demo:
Introducing the Kyosho MANOI AT01 robot. Modified by Dr. GIY of Japan, the ATO1 robot is modified to compete in the 5 meter dash of the Kyosho Athlete Humanoid Cup competition. The original version of the robot was too limited, allowing only 17 degrees of movement in the legs. The exact modifications Dr. GIY did remains unknown, but it is speculated that the modified version borrows legs from other robot models, providing much better movement and support. He may have also upgraded the robot with an R/C receiver/transmitter for better control.
I’m sure there’s a gyroscope somewhere in the ATO1. How does it maintain its balance?
