Plasmobot: The First Organic Robot

August 31, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

The aim of these researchers is to create the first amorphous non-silicon biological robot, plasmobot, using plasmodium, the vegetative stage of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, a commonly occurring mold.  Plasmodium respond to a variety of stimuli to move or grow in a certain direction.  The type of food that is supplied can also control the output of the mold.  For example, feeding the mold oat flakes cause them to grow tube-like structures.  Read the story at the PhysOrg link below.

Plasmobot

Photo Credit:  PhysOrg.com and University of the West of England

… span them in the shortest and best way possible, and transport tiny objects along pre-programmed directions. The robots will have parallel inputs and outputs, a network of sensors and the number crunching power of super computers. The plasmobot will …

Scientists design first robot using mould
Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:40:16 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , ,

Phasma the Insect Robot

August 27, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Here is a story about an insect-modeled robot that runs like a real bug.  It is a bot that mimics the gait of an insect, if not the appearance.  When you look at the motion of this machine on a video, you will be amazed at the realism of the movements.  Phasma is based on iSprawl developed at BDML, Stanford University, USA.  The two machines have very similar insectoid motions.  If you click on the link for iSprawl, you can see it in action.  If you want to read more, then go to the Takram link in the next sentence. The following from the Takram Design Engineering website explains the background of this robot’s development in a very succinct way:  “Phasma is a hexapedal running robot that can run dynamically like a living organism. It is an attempt to depict life purely through its motion rather than its shape, by extracting the physics of running from living things and implementing that to the artifact. Phasma uses compliant components such as stainless steel springs and rubber joints to reproduce smooth and efficient locomotion seen in animals. Another interesting biomimicry applied in Phasma is the alternating tripod gait as seen in insects that provides excellent stability.”  Visit the link below or click on the photograph for more details.

phasma_02

Photo credit:  Takashi Mochizuki

… insectile robot reminds me of the running motion made by the CGI-based spider surveillance assistant robots from Stephen Spielberg's 2002 movie Minority Report : ( Minority Report spider robot swarm ) Fans of Michael Crichton's 1985 movie Runaway …

Phasma Insect Robot Runs Like A Bug
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:20:39 GMT

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Robot Grasshopper Now Has Wings

August 26, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

RobotNext posted a story on this microbot in October of 2008 as an example of robots that are modeled on biology.  This is a follow-up to that article.  Apparently, the original group developing this little grasshopper bot has now put wings on the mechanical grasshopper to give it the ability to glide after it jumps in the air.  The objective of this research is to develop a small robot that can leap into the air and then glide to a target.  I still find it amazing to watch the video of the robotic grasshopper jumping into the air.   Go to the post from October 2008 to find links to the French site that details the work being done on this.

Grasshopper Microbot with Wings

Credit: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Last May, we wrote about a 7 gram robot grasshopper that is capable of jumping a distance of 1.4 meters, which is pretty huge for such a small robot.

Robot Grasshopper Grows Wings
Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:04:22 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , , ,

Fishbots: Robots Mimic Swimming Motions of Schools of Fish

August 25, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Robotic fish that swim like a bass or trout are the latest crossover from biology to robotics.  Mechanical engineers Kamal Youcef-Toumi and Pablo Valdivia Y Alvarado of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  have designed the elegant fishbots to maneuver deftly into areas where more conventional underwater remotely operated or autonomous vehicles are unable to reach. “Schools” of the new robot fish could be utilized to carry-out inspections of underwater structures such as oil and gas pipes; ship’s hulls; and perhaps help detect environmental hazards.  They could also find uses in patrolling ports, rivers, and lakes.  Unlike earlier robotic fish, these robots are much simpler in design and are much more like their natural models.  Read more about these amazing machines in the stories linked below.


Credit:  CNET News

New robots mimic fish's swimming
PhysOrg.com
As part of his doctoral thesis, Valdivia Y Alvarado created a model to calculate the optimal material properties distributions along the robot's body to …
Schools of Mini Robofish Swim Where Humans Can'tWired News
MIT dives into robo-fish poolCNET News
MIT researchers create robotic fish for underwater explorationVentureBeat
all 9 news articles »

New robots mimic fish's swimming – PhysOrg.com
Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:12:25 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Robotic Insect “Flies” Off Vibrations

July 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Flying robot insects are the subject of some intense research into exactly how they are able to accomplish their aerial feats.  A researcher at Arizona State University, Michele Milano, is investigating how a robofly flies.  Check out this video of his “flying brick”.  (You need Microsoft Media Player to see this.)  Also, look at this robot fly from the Harvard Microrobotics Lab to see what started this line of research.

The goal of developing a flying robo-insect is to build the ultimate surveillance tool.  A tiny robot that looks and flies like a real insect could enter a building and take a look around without raising an alarm.  How does the robofly take to the air?  Now, this new research seems to cast doubt on whether its the robots wings or the vibrations in the strings that guide it.  Or maybe its both.  So, the point of this story is that, even now, after over 100 years of powered flight, it is not always clear what the mechanics of flying involve or even why something can fly.

CREATING a free-flying robotic insect is the dearest wish of many an engineer because such a machine would have great potential in surveillance and in seeking out trapped people in search-and-rescue situations. But a curious effect might upset their plans.

Due to vibrations similar to those generated in a plucked guitar string, a robotic insect can defy gravity and "fly" up wire tethers.

Robotic insect 'flight' may be just good vibrations
Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , ,

More Snakebots

July 24, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Okay.  I know that I am obsessed with snake robots.  This article from technovelgy.com and Science Fiction in the News just grabbed me like a python and wouldn’t let go.  You have to see all the moves this snake has.  Look at Carnegie Mellon’s Biorobotics Laboratory site and watch the videos.  Besides swimming and wrapping around a horizontal pipe, this baby can climb a pole.  See the thumbnail below and follow the link for the larger photos on the website.

poleclimb

Credit:  Biorobotics Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University

This Modular Snake Robot from Carnegie Mellon University has some amazing moves.

Modular Snake Robot's Unique Gaits
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:09:02 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , ,

Israel’s New Robots Modeled on Animals’ Movements

July 23, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

Returning to one of my favorite subjects, here is a post I found on robots designed from biological models.   The robot pictured below is a snakebot.  Israeli robot builders seem to love serpents as a model for robots.  Click on the serpents link above to see an earlier post on RobotNext about an Israeli Defense Forces robot that is to be used for recon missions.

NY1's Technology performer Adam Balkin filed the report this story is taken from.  The innovative robots were developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Their creator, Amir Shapiro, finds inspiration in nature.  Specifically, he studies how animals move.  "We actually look at nature and try to copy but we cannot copy exactly because we have different materials and actuators," says Shapiro. "So we try to mimic nature — it's called biomimetics."

He has created two robotic snakes for search and rescue missions.  One of his creations can climb nearly vertical surfaces such a metal ship hull by using magnets to attach to the surface.  In the story, Shapiro shows other robots that he is working with that are based on LEGO NXT kits.  He makes the point that robots can be developed and build using very inexpensive materials.  Computing power is readily available, so very innovative robots can be build by anyone with the necessary knowledge and skill.

His point is well taken.  Robots have a use where the environment is too dangerous for humans, but robots also have a role to play in recreation.  To see one of the robot snakes in action, click on the video credit link below.


Video Credit:  NY1

New Israeli Robots Move Like Animals
NY1
A robot builder from Israel says he often draws inspiration from actual animals when designing metal ones. NY1's Technology performer Adam Balkin filed the …

New Israeli Robots Move Like Animals – NY1 

by Adam Balkin
Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:45:03 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR): Vegetarian, Not Carnivore

July 17, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

So, after days of reporting on this story all over the blogosphere, the company that is developing EATR has come out with a press release to clarify what their robot will use as fuel.  In the original post here at RobotNext, EATR was described as a grazing robot, implying that it only consumed vegetable matter like grass.  Another robot mentioned in the post, Ecobot, is being developed to fuel itself on insects.  These are two completely separate programs, but in the post – as is often the case here at RobotNext – I speculated on the possibility of combining the features of the two robots.   In other words, what the next thing would be:  a robot that can power itself on both plants and insects. 

To set the record straight, I thought I would explain that this was pure speculation on my part and not intended to suggest that EATR can consume insects.  In response to the stories about consuming dead human bodies, I did post a message on Twitter suggesting that I thought the robot only ate grass.  In my research, I could find only information that EATR would consume biomass.  Biomass can include anything organic, so that could be taken to mean that the robot might eat anything.  Since I saw this story originally in reference to eating a lawn, that is how I reported the robot in the original post.

At any rate, this is still a fascinating idea for a robot and one that should provoke serious thought.  Along those lines, it should be noted that the Cyclone Engine that will power EATR could also revolutionize transportation outside of robotics.  This engine can run on any vegetable-based material, including agricultural waste, coal, municipal trash, kerosene, ethanol, diesel, gasoline, heavy fuel, palm oil, cottonseed oil, algae oil, hydrogen, propane, etc. –individually or in combination.  Thus, the Cyclone Engine is a very “green” power source.  Read the presentation on this engine to see all the details.

Washington, July 17 (ANI): The makers of a biomass-eating military robot have clarified that the machine is a vegetarian, and not a non-vegetarian as was earlier reported. Robotic Technology Inc.’s (RTI’s) Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot …

Biomass-eating military robo is a veggie, not a carnivore – Thaindian.com
Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Filed Under: Military, Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Robot Insects: Next Military Spies?

July 14, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

So, these are really not robots, they are cyborgs or more correctly, cybugs.  RobotNext has posted articles on robot insects or robots modeled on insects in the past.  Now, these newest robobugs are something else.  These tiny hybrid insect machines combine mechanical and living materials to achieve their abilities.  Microchips are implanted directly into the developing insects where, as the insect matures the electronics are integrated into the nervous system of the bug.  This has actually been done with moths and the moths have exhibited controlled flight while still tethered.  The next step will be independent flight.  First, the problem of power generation must be solved.  Check out the article below for more details on this intriguing project.

 Cyborg Bug

  Photo Credit:  DARPA

The HI-MEMS program at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has to date invested $12 million into research since it began in 2006. It currently supports these cybug projects:

  • Roaches at Texas A&M.
  • Horned beetles at University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley.
  • Moths at an MIT-led team, and another moth project at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.

Scientists can already control the flight of real moths using implanted devices.

Powerful Ideas: Military Develops 'Cybug' Spies
Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:42:24 GMT

Filed Under: Military, Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , , ,

Robot Cricket Has Keen Sense of Smell

July 11, 2009 by · Leave a Comment

The next biological model for robots is the cricket.  You may associate crickets with the sounds that they make when it is very quiet.  It turns out that these creatures have a very sensitive sense of smell.  However, they are only able to detect a very narrow range of odors.  This ability is being tapped to develop a robot that can be used to detect chemicals on the battlefield or the smell of survivors in a disaster situation.  Read more in the two stories cited below.

Most crickets are active only at night, and they use their long antennae both to feel their way around in the dark and to smell things – so, their sense of smell is quite sensitive, but mostly to odors that come from food. You see, one of the tradeoffs in the sensory systems of organisms like insects is that they can be very sensitive to certain chemicals, but that there will be an even bigger number of things they *CAN'T* smell at all.

Entomology (Study of Bugs)-crickets

IF YOU'RE trapped under rubble after an earthquake, wondering if you'll see daylight again, the last thing you need is an insect buzzing around your face. But that insect could save your life, if a scheme funded by the Pentagon comes off.

The project aims to co-opt the way some insects communicate to give early warning of chemical attacks on the battlefield – the equivalent of the "canary in a coal mine". The researchers behind it say the technology could be put to good use in civilian life, from locating disaster victims to monitoring for pollution and gas leaks, or acting as smoke detectors.

Cyborg crickets could chirp at the smell of survivors
Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:00:00 GMT

Filed Under: Nature, Robots · Tagged With: , ,
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