Sony has shown a new version of its ORIO ("Quest for cuRIOsity", originally named Sony Dream Robot or SDR) robot that can jog at a top speed of 14 metres per minute. The original version of QRIO was to be a bipedal humanoid entertainment robot developed and marketed (but never sold) by Sony to follow up on the success of its AIBO toy. QRIO stood approximately 0.6 m (2 feet) tall and weighed 7.3 kg (16 pounds). QRIO's slogan was "Makes life fun, makes you happy!"
Sony said the Qrio jogging robot was the result of three years of work but that it had no plans to put it on sale like the Aibo robot dog. The robot, which was previously known as the SDR, has previously been shown walking, climbing a shallow slope, kicking a ball and dancing. If the 58cm high robot were human-sized, it would be able to run at a speed of about 2.4km/h (1.5mph). Qrio has on board two digital cameras that help its learn about its surroundings and recognise up to 10 faces.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Aldebaran's INTERACTIVE Robot Nao
Nao is an autonomous, programmable and medium-sized humanoid robot, developed by the French company Aldebaran Robotics in Paris. Nao is the first step of the personal robot revolution. Self-contained, packed full of cognitive skills and high-end motions, Nao is an entirely programmable 60cm high robot.
Nao listens. Nao has four microphones fitted into his head and a voice recognition and analysis system. He recognizes a set of predefined words that you can supplement with your own expressions. These words trigger any behaviour you choose. Available so far in English and French, we are working on adding six other languages (Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean). Nao is also capable of detecting the source of a sound or voice to deal with that source and start interacting.
Listening to Nao. Nao can express himself by reading out any file stored locally in his storage space or captured from a web site of RSS flow. Fitted with two speakers placed on either side of the head, his vocal synthesis system can be configured, allowing for voice alterations such as speed or tone. He is available in French and English and we are currently developing other languages for this vocal synthesis in the meantime. Naturally, you can send a music file to Nao and have him play it. He accepts _.wav and _.mp3 formats, which allows you to punctuate your behaviours with music or personalized sounds.
Nao sees. Nao sees by means of two CMOS 640 x 480 cameras, which can capture up to 30 images per second. The first is on the forehead, aimed at Nao’s horizon, while the second camera is placed at mouth level to scan the immediate environment. The software lets you recover photos that Nao sees and video streams. Yet what use are eyes, unless you can also perceive and interpret your surroundings? That’s why Nao contains a set of algorithms to detect and recognize faces and shapes, so he can recognize the person talking to him, find a ball, and ultimately much more complex objects. These algorithms have been specially developed, with constant care taken to use up minimum processor resources.
Nao reacts to touch. Nao is fitted with a capacitive sensor placed on the top of his head, divided into three sections. You can therefore give Nao information through touch: pressing once to tell him to turn off, for example, or using this sensor as a series of buttons to trigger an associated action. The system comes with LED, indicating the type of contact. It is also possible to program complex sequences.
Nao is connected. Nao can communicate in several ways. For local connections, infrared senders/receivers placed in his eyes allow him to connect to the objects in his environment, serving as a remote control. Yet Nao can also logon to your local network via Wi-Fi, making it easy to pilot and program him through a computer, or any other object that has a Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi key is connected to the mother board and accepts a, b and g standards.
Besides local communication, Nao can browse the Internet, of course, and interface with any website to send or retrieve data.
When two Nao meet…… they can talk to each other and work together. You can choose to connect them directly in Wi-Fi, infrared or even body language. This really facilitates research possibilities on collaborative work between robots and means that several Nao can perform complex tasks such as geographic positioning or pooling analytical capacity.
website: http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en/
Nao listens. Nao has four microphones fitted into his head and a voice recognition and analysis system. He recognizes a set of predefined words that you can supplement with your own expressions. These words trigger any behaviour you choose. Available so far in English and French, we are working on adding six other languages (Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean). Nao is also capable of detecting the source of a sound or voice to deal with that source and start interacting.
Listening to Nao. Nao can express himself by reading out any file stored locally in his storage space or captured from a web site of RSS flow. Fitted with two speakers placed on either side of the head, his vocal synthesis system can be configured, allowing for voice alterations such as speed or tone. He is available in French and English and we are currently developing other languages for this vocal synthesis in the meantime. Naturally, you can send a music file to Nao and have him play it. He accepts _.wav and _.mp3 formats, which allows you to punctuate your behaviours with music or personalized sounds.
Nao sees. Nao sees by means of two CMOS 640 x 480 cameras, which can capture up to 30 images per second. The first is on the forehead, aimed at Nao’s horizon, while the second camera is placed at mouth level to scan the immediate environment. The software lets you recover photos that Nao sees and video streams. Yet what use are eyes, unless you can also perceive and interpret your surroundings? That’s why Nao contains a set of algorithms to detect and recognize faces and shapes, so he can recognize the person talking to him, find a ball, and ultimately much more complex objects. These algorithms have been specially developed, with constant care taken to use up minimum processor resources.
Nao reacts to touch. Nao is fitted with a capacitive sensor placed on the top of his head, divided into three sections. You can therefore give Nao information through touch: pressing once to tell him to turn off, for example, or using this sensor as a series of buttons to trigger an associated action. The system comes with LED, indicating the type of contact. It is also possible to program complex sequences.
Nao is connected. Nao can communicate in several ways. For local connections, infrared senders/receivers placed in his eyes allow him to connect to the objects in his environment, serving as a remote control. Yet Nao can also logon to your local network via Wi-Fi, making it easy to pilot and program him through a computer, or any other object that has a Wi-Fi connection. The Wi-Fi key is connected to the mother board and accepts a, b and g standards.
Besides local communication, Nao can browse the Internet, of course, and interface with any website to send or retrieve data.
When two Nao meet…… they can talk to each other and work together. You can choose to connect them directly in Wi-Fi, infrared or even body language. This really facilitates research possibilities on collaborative work between robots and means that several Nao can perform complex tasks such as geographic positioning or pooling analytical capacity.
website: http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en/
Man vs. Machine
RuBot II is an amazing robot that can easily solve the Rubik's cube puzzle game in a completely interactive (and talkative!) way. This is the second version of the RuBot, created by Pete Redmond, an avionics technician with the Irish Air Corps. The robot is able to accept a cube from a (mere) human. The 'bot then snags the cube and hoists it up to eye camera level, where its deft manipulators scan all sides of the cube. Rubot II can play Rubik's Cube quicker than any human being. Here is video clip of Rubik's champ, Sean Connally, challenging Rubot II at the UK open Rubik's championship in 2006. Enjoy!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Robots that Climb
A Stickybot, inspired by the gecko, can climb almost any surface by using tiny hairs that emulate the lizard’s
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology
At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.
Movie: http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html
Movie: http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html
Futurists
‘Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.’ (The Fututrist Manifesto, F. T. Marinetti, 1909)
RFID Tags
Long checkout lines at the grocery store are one of the biggest complaints about the shopping experience. Soon, these lines could disappear when the ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code is replaced by smart labels, also called radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. RFID tags are intelligent bar codes that can talk to a networked system to track every product that you put in your shopping cart.
Imagine going to the grocery store, filling up your cart and walking right out the door. No longer will you have to wait as someone rings up each item in your cart one at a time. Instead, these RFID tags will communicate with an electronic reader that will detect every item in the cart and ring each up almost instantly. The reader will be connected to a large network that will send information on your products to the retailer and product manufacturers. Your bank will then be notified and the amount of the bill will be deducted from your account. No lines, no waiting.
RFID tags, a technology once limited to tracking cattle, are tracking consumer products worldwide. Many manufacturers use the tags to track the location of each product they make from the time it's made until it's pulled off the shelf and tossed in a shopping cart.
Outside the realm of retail merchandise, RFID tags are tracking vehicles, airline passengers, Alzheimer's patients and pets. Soon, they may even track your preference for chunky or creamy peanut butter. Some critics say RFID technology is becoming too much a part of our lives -- that is, if we're even aware of all the parts of our lives that it affects.
Website: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/rfid.htm
Friday, January 8, 2010
Hi-Tech for Health
Fortunately, Ferrell found out that the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was supporting development of a “personal status monitor” for soldiers. So he wrote a proposal, and by early 1996, the funds started rolling in. A year later a team from ORNL, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK), and the University of Virginia had developed a temperature-measuring telesensor chip.
The chip, which is about one-eighth the size of a postage stamp, uses bipolar transistors whose electronic properties are sensitive to temperature. It can be attached to a finger or placed in an ear. There it can measure body temperature and transmit a reading when queried by a receiver in a remote intelligence monitor.
Although developed for military uses, the temperature chip could be useful at home or in the hospital. For example, a chip could warn of a spike in body temperature that might lead to a seizure in a child or brain damage in a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy. By heeding the instant information and making the appropriate response, such as taking a pill, patients can avert a health crisis.
Wireless monitors could vastly improve decision making by medics in the military. On the battlefield, some soldiers are mortally wounded, some are badly injured but conscious, and others are hurt yet are able (usually with treatment) to resume fighting. While under fire, medics must decide quickly which wounded soldiers must be treated first to get them back on their feet and ready to fight. Medics also must determine which wounded soldiers can be saved from death by rapid treatment and transport to a hospital.
Website: http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/meas_tech/hi-tech.htm
Inception
Check out the trailer for the upcoming Christopher Nolan film staring Leo D.
A contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.
Trailer: http://inceptionmovie.warnerbros.com/
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tangible Facade Projection
Really interesting projection concepts by NuFormer Digital Media in the Netherlands. NuFormer Digital Media develops high-skill 3D video mapping projections. These 3D projections will be custom-made to fit any specific building and will be exposed by a battery of powerful projectors.
Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.
Sniff Interface
Sniff is an interesting interactive interface concept. Sniff is an interactive projection in a storefront window. As the viewer walks by the projection, her movements and gestures are tracked by a computer vision system. A CG dog dynamically responds to these gestures and changes his behavior based on the state of engagement with the viewer.
Sniff from karolina sobecka on Vimeo.
Cortical Plasticity
Cortical Plasticity: is the changing of neurons, the organization of their networks and their function via new experiences.
Could the near future for architects all be in the mind? With further neurological metamorphosis. Dan Farmer suggests that spatial awareness and experience could be stipulated by cortical plasticity, stimulated by electrical impulses. With this shift to internalised space perception, the disciplines of architecture and cognitive science become blurred as the relationship between the object and its environment dissolves.
L.A.W.u.N Projects
The Invisible University, a collaboration between the EXP/University of Westminister and the Architectureal Association, speculates on the 'dis-urban': new effects on the post-print, post-digital landscape at a local and global level.
The photo above explores the architecture of the 'New Nature'. The pastoral scene belongs to a series of adjusted photographs that take the atmospheric effects associated with the Invisible University and bring them to an out-into-the-open spatial ambience. For the nomad in the foreground there is neither initerior nor exterior: clothed in electro-social camouflage she dissolves inot the ravine, gazing into its luminous, mist air while learning the line and musing on the unique phenomena of distance versus memory. Who knew that wet-look, high-tech, liquid-crystal filaments would find a soul amte in a constellation of knitted stretch jersey, constricting and expanding with each movement faster and everywhere, closer to the sky and further from the ground, save for a shadow flung by a passing cloud.
The Carbon Casino
Richard Bevan re-imagines Heathrow Airport in 2030. In an age where Personal Carbon Allowances (PCA's) have become the dominant currency, the facilities at Heathrow are turned over to a carbon casino that affords airside and landside customers the opportunities to participate in gambling with the relevant tax breaks.
Pictures Above: The Carbon Casino, Dealer robots used on the gaming podiums within the Carbon Casino
INTERACTIVE “LIVING GLASS” Regulates Air Quality
What if architecture was designed to work for you to keep you healthy? Soo-in Yang and David Benjamin, architects at The Living have come up with a new material called "Living Glass" that will look out for your health by monitoring C02 levels in the air. The new smart material is a thin, transparent, non-mechanical surface which automatically opens and closes "gills" in human presence to control the air quality in the room.
Movie: http://inihabitat.com/2007/0621/carob-dioxide-sensing-living-glass/
Planar Manipulator
Researchers at the NYU Media Research Lab have developed the Planar Manipulator Display (PMD). This device allows users to rearrange objects based on input criteria. Through user input objects on magnets are moved into different arrangements. Preset code and geometry dictate rules that allow objects to move while preventing collisions.
Concert ReacTable
The Reactable was developed by the Music Technology Group in Barcelona. This interface uses simple patterns placed on objects. The direction of the patterns and proximity to each other determines the type of sound being produced. Users have the ability to interact with the table as they rearrange the objects over time. All users interact in the same environment as they create sound through one speaker.
This interface is interesting because the direction and type of patterns determine what the music sounds like. One could imagine that new users would have the ability to create their own types of blocks that would create new spatial arrangements and new music.
Transforming Robots
The Distributed System Design Research Group began experimenting with different generations of the MTran 2 robots in the hopes of creating a system of self similar robotic modules that would have the ability to change their geometry to accomplish goals. Rapid prototyping, particularly involving the fabrication of electronic parts and a laser cut plastics allow for modules to be inexpensively and quickly manufactured. Much of the logic behind this system mimmicks animal body typology and locomotion. But this system based on its geometry has the ability to nest creating solid objects, limiting gaps between objects. Self-similar modules have the ability to wirelessly connect and reconnect through physical male-female connections.
Video:
Video:
Spatial Robots
The Hirose Fukushima Robotics Lab created the acm-r5 based on the mechanics behind snakes. Powered by a lithium-ion battery, the ACM-R5 is a radio-controlled amphibious robot designed to move like its real world counterpart. It can slither or swim underwater for 30 minutes on a full charge. Inside, you’ll find an intricate sensor system (attitude/torque), small-sized camera, and a 32bit micro controller. While this robot seems more like a single object based robot it is made up of self-similar parts that work together to accomplish changing geometrical demands.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Affective, Intelligent Driving Agent
AIDA, a driving agent that both navigates and mimics the expertise of the driving companion, learning and monitoring habits, likes and dislikes of vehicle operator.
Portable Light Project
Versatile textile with flexible photovoltaics and solid state lighting that can be adapted to weaving and sewing technologies. Produces light and has the ability to charge elecrical devices such as cell phones.
Website: http://www.kvarch.net/
The Solar Powered COM-BAT Spy Plane
COM-BAT is a six-inch surveillance device that is powered by solar, wind and vibrations. The concept was conceived by the US military as a means to gather real-time data for soldiers. The Army has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a grant to develop it.
Cheaper, Greener Flexible Screens
Arizona State University created a flexible display prototype that uses very little energy and is cheaper than current displays. Their new flexible screens also use less material and are said to be unbreakable.
Website: http://flexdisplay.asu.edu
Swarms of Solar Microbots May Revolutionize Data Gathering
Researchers are developing ways to mass-produce tiny robots the size of a fly that operate like swarms of insects to collect data to aid in surveillance, micromanufacturing, medicine, and more. Measuring in at under 4mm square, the microbots are able to move, communicate and collect data, plus they generate all of their own power via solar panels.
IN)VISIBLE MEMBRANE: life on the human body and its design applications’
Rendering the invisable "visable", Austrian designer Sonja Baumel fuses fashion, philosophy ans science by exploring how bacteria on our skin could be used to create material.
Repelled by heat, fibres build up in areas that require the most warmth and insulation.
Twirling Battery Provides Instant Energy
Spinning this kinetic cellphone battery on your finger 130 times will generate enough power to provide your phone with approximately 2 minutes of talk time or 25 minutes of standby power.
Hoberman Sphere
A Hoberman sphere is a structure that resembles a geodesic dome but is capable of folding down to a fraction of its normal size by the scissor like action of its joints. The operation of wach joint is linked to all the others.
Transforming Tetrahedron
Transforming in both shape and color, the Tetrahedron begins as an orange three-sided pyramid. It then unfolds into a 12-ointed star with a five-meter span and finally folds into a second, blue tetrahedron.
The Expanding Geodesic DOme blossoms open from a 1.5-meter cluster to a 6-meter structural dome when pulled open from its base. When deployed it has the same shape and trangulated pattern as Buckminister Fuller's static, geodesic dome, taking this seminal, historic structure into the 21st century.
Movie: http://hoberman.com/portfolio/expandinggeodesicdome.php?myNum=7&mytext=Expanding+Geodesic+Dome&myrollovertext=%3EExpanding+Geodesic+Dome%3C%2Fu%3E&category=&projectname=Expanding+Geodesic+Dome
G-Stalt: An interface to manipulate complex data sets with the hands
The g-stalt project explores how to navigate large information spaces naturally, quickly, and seemlessly between graphical and physical space.
Movie: http://zig.media.mit.edu/Work/G-stalt
Movie: http://zig.media.mit.edu/Work/G-stalt
Electronic Ink
Electronic ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. The priciple components of electronic ink are millions of tiny microcapsules, about the dameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visable to the user. Electronic ink can be applied to any material that is used for conventional printing.
Movie: http://www.bnet.com/2422-19541_23-266051.html
Movie: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/video/e-ink-cover-video
Self-Adaptive Modular Robots
In nature, animal groups achieve robustness and scalability with each individual executes a simple and adaptive strategy. Inspired by this phenonmenon, engineers proposed a decentralized control framework for modular robots to achieve coordinated and self-adaptive tasks with each modules performs simple distributed sensing and actuation. Examples here show that such a framework allows several different modular robotic systems to achieve self-adaptation tasks scalably and robustly: a module-formed table and bridge that adapt to constantly-perturbed environment.
video:
How Sensors Work
A general tutorial on how sensors work and what object currenlty utilize such technology.
Bendable/Printed Electronics
Electronics are now being created through the process of printing. The machine used to print these circuit boards looks just like a regular printer. One advantage to this is that the circuits are now flexible, leading to new uses and ways to implement technology.
Beam Robotics
Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics Robotics is a term that refers to a style of robotics that primarily uses simple analogue circuits, such as comparators, instead of a microprocessor in order to produce an unusally simple design that trades flexibility for robustness and efficiency in performing the task for which it was design. BEAM Robots typically consists of a set of aforementioned analog circuits which facilitate the robot's response to its working environment.
The basic BEAM principles focus on a stimulus-response based ability within a machine to simulate biological neuron behaviours. The design use the lowest number possilbe of electronic elements, recycle and reuse technoscrap, and radiant energy such as solar power. BEAM robotics attempts to copy the characteristics and behaviours of natural organisms, with the ultimate goal of domesticating these "wild" robots. BEAM robotics also promotes the value of aesthetics in the design of the device, proving the adage "form follows function".
Because BEAM is very adaptable there have been many different types of BEAM robots built. The most common types are....
The basic BEAM principles focus on a stimulus-response based ability within a machine to simulate biological neuron behaviours. The design use the lowest number possilbe of electronic elements, recycle and reuse technoscrap, and radiant energy such as solar power. BEAM robotics attempts to copy the characteristics and behaviours of natural organisms, with the ultimate goal of domesticating these "wild" robots. BEAM robotics also promotes the value of aesthetics in the design of the device, proving the adage "form follows function".
Because BEAM is very adaptable there have been many different types of BEAM robots built. The most common types are....
- Solaroller - A small wheeled robot that collects energy from a small photovoltaic cell and then bursts forward a few millimeters to a few feet depending on the construction.
- Photovore - The photovore is basically two solarollers stuck together to give it a phototropic (move towards brightest source of light) behavior. You can add sensors so it wont get stuck and like the solaroller it's also solar powered.
- Walker - The walker is the heart of BEAM. The most common type of walker is the 4 legged, 2 motor design (see photo above). They also (at the time of this writing) include 2 legged, star wars like walkers to 6 legged 12 motor designs. Walkers can be built to walk on mars, blow up land mines, scare your secretary and many more useful (and not so useful) applications.
- Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTFNb-WQXY
Memory Shape Alloy / Muscle Wire
Muscle wires are this strands of special nickel-titanium alloy that actually shorten in length when electrically powered. They are easy to use, and they can lift thousands of times their own weight. The direct linear motion of Muscle Wires offers experimenters a source of motion that is very similar to that of a human muscle, providing possibilities not available with motors or solenoids. Ideal for making small, simple walking robots. Can be weaved in with ordinary material.
Polymer Captures Carbon Dioxide
Klaus Lackner, a professor of geophysics at Columbia Uniersity, is experimenting with a material composite that chemically binds to carbon dioxide in the air and then, when doused in water, releases the gas in a concentrated form that can easily be captured.
Lackner envisions automated systems, millions, each the size of a small cabin - scattered over the countryside near geologic reservoir that could store the gases they capture. A system based on this material could remove carbon dioxide from the air a thousand times as fast as trees do now.
Movie: http://nanoarchitecture.net
Lackner envisions automated systems, millions, each the size of a small cabin - scattered over the countryside near geologic reservoir that could store the gases they capture. A system based on this material could remove carbon dioxide from the air a thousand times as fast as trees do now.
Movie: http://nanoarchitecture.net
Robo-Fabric
The shape memory alloy nitinol has the ability to spring back to its original forged shape when heated, allowing soft actuation without motors. Italian fashion designers grado zero made a shirt that rolled up its own sleeves when the wire (and the wearer) overheat. The thin metal wire is woven into material for different kinetic effects.
A Flexible High-Density Sensor
A scalable electronic sensate skin designed a a dense sensor network in the MIT Media Lab's Responsive Environment's group. Our skin is built from small (1" x 1") rigid circuit boards attached to their neighbors with flexible interconnects. Each board contained an embedded processor together with a suite of thirteen sensors, providing dense, multimodal capture of proximate and contact phenomena. In addition to the design of the physical system, this thesis develops protocols for internode communication (both neighbor-neighbor and global), and power-efficient wake-on-phenomena operation.
Website/Movie: http://www.media.mit.edu/resenv/ChainMail/movies.html
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
World’s Smallest Robot With Gripper
At 1/20th of a cubic inch, this may be the world's smallest wheeled robot with a gripper.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFh9SrXJ1EA
Swarm Robotics by James McLurkin
The swarm, a fleet of 100 robots, runs on the Swarm Operating System (SwarmOS), which is based on distributed algorithms that allow the input of commands to be divided among multiple recipients. This software is also scalable, so that the number of robots in the swarm can increase or decrease without affecting the work accomplishments of the group. Distributed algorithms also set the platform for local communications among the robots so each can work independently toward achieving a common goal.
Website/Movie: http://people.csail.mit.edu/jamesm/swarm.php
CCSL Self Replication Robots
Hod Lipson at the Cornell Computations Synthesis Lab created intelligent robotic modules that have the ability to recreate themselves. This system was designed so that the number of modules could grow thus making it possible for the system as a whole to have more variation at a larger scale. The robots wer made using 3d printing technology compunded with individual microprocessors. Self-similar modules have the ability to wirelessly connect and reconnect through electro-magnetic male-female connections.
video:
Robotic Self Healing Chair
Spatial Robot Prototypes by Miles Kemp
Nano Meta-morphic Architecture consists of a palette of small-scale self-similar robotic modules that have the ability to dynamically move and attach to other modules to create different configurations in real-time. Each module has a different material on its exterior, various hardware (sensors, accelerometers, computation and kinetics) and computational logic to enable it to interpret an physically respond to different local and global inputs. Inhabitants can use hundreds of thousands of these modules to create and recreate dynamic-real-time formations.
iRobot's Shape-Shifting Blob 'Bot Takes Its First Steps
iRobot created a soft, shape-shifting robot blob. It can roll around and change shape, with the ability to fit through small cracks.
This soft, mobile robot was designed using jamming as an enabling technology. This shape-shifting blob in moving toward the ability to include sensors or even connect different blobs together.
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