Wheels and tracks are easiest to get a robot going, but those mobility solutions have their limitations, and to mention, does not satisfy our sci-fi fantasy. If we expect robots to traverse across a variety of terrains like humans do, then bipedal is the way to go. There’s no doubt about it. Armed with this notion, Agility Robots, a spin-off of Oregon State University, has devoted its time to perfecting a robot that walks on two and from the looks of it, the roboticists over at Agility Robotics may have pulled it off rather perfectly. The robot in question is called Cassie, a bipedal robot revealed back in February when it demonstrated its eerily human-like walking ability. Continue reading Cassie Is A Torso-less Bipedal Robot That May One Day Deliver Packages To You
Category Archives: SCIENCE
Japanese Robot Dog Detects Smelly Feet, Faints If The Smell Is Unbearable
Smelly feet is a problem that plague modern day homo sapiens. It is a personal hygiene issue which people prefer not to talk about because, nobody knows how to politely do so and even if you do brave the wrath of the smelly feet person and go point blank about it, what can he or she possibly do? Nothing, but that’s before Hana-chan came along. Developed by Japanese company, Next Technology, Hana-chan is a cute, tiny robotic fido is designed to detect unpleasant odor from a person’s feet. An odor detection sensor, aptly located at the canine’s nose, sniffs out smelly feet. Continue reading Japanese Robot Dog Detects Smelly Feet, Faints If The Smell Is Unbearable
Z-Arm Robotic Arm Is The Closest You’d Get To Tony Stark’s JARVIS
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man is a fictional character who had many green with envy because he has JARVIS, the sophisticated AI that controls a series of robotic arms that can do pretty much anything. The Hitbot Z-Arm you see here is not that, though, but it is possibly the closest you can get to a JARVIS-like robotic arm right in your humble abode. This desktop-bound Z-Arm does not have JARVIS level of dexterity, but it is nearly as versatile. With a switch of the arm’s tool head, it can be a laser cutter, 3D printer, soldering device, and even work with a handful of Z-Arms to form a part assembly line. But it is not without caveat. Continue reading Z-Arm Robotic Arm Is The Closest You’d Get To Tony Stark’s JARVIS
This Cyborg Dragonfly Is The Microbot From Deception Point In Real Life
In Dan Brown’s Deception Point (Pocket Books, ISBN-13 978-1416524809), the author wrote about a breakthrough in biomimicry; a dragonfly-like microbot no longer than a centimeter that is primarily used for reconnaissance (or more unglamorously, spying) and recharges by nearby magnetic field. It is not hard to imagine how farfetched it sounded back in 2001, but given the technology we possessed today, farfetched it is not. In fact, it looks like Dan Brown’s words have come true. Eerily and freakishly, there’s a working microbot today that is not only a realization of Dan Brown’s fictional microbot, but it pretty much pushes the boundary biomimicry. Continue reading This Cyborg Dragonfly Is The Microbot From Deception Point In Real Life
New Species Of Frog Discovered In S.W. India Is Somewhat Of An Abomination
Human civilization may be a grand 6,000 years old, but lot of things on our lovely little blue marble remain undiscovered. Case-in-point: the Bhupathy Purple Frog. While belonging to the frog family, this newly discovered species of frog looks remotely like the amphibian family it belongs to. Scientists have discovered the frog dwelling in the Western Ghats mountain range in southwestern India, but instead of naming it based on the region the creature was found, it was named after the late herpetologist Dr. Subramaniam Bhupathy who perished at Ghats in 2014. Continue reading New Species Of Frog Discovered In S.W. India Is Somewhat Of An Abomination
China’s Giant Monkey Robot Wants To Take On America’s MegaBot
Competitions between countries have officially progressed into the future. As you may have heard, it is confirmed that American’s MegaBot (now Mark III) will go head-to-head with Japan’s very own Kurata mech this month which, to date, we have yet to hear anything about the firm date and venue. Anyways, the folks in China is not going to stand by and watch the fun that is about to happen between the U.S. and Japan. It want some of it too and it was with this desire that inspired some Chinese inventors, collectively called Great Metal and lead by Chinese artist Shiqian Sun, to develop a giant monkey robot named after the Chinese mythical Monkey King. Continue reading China’s Giant Monkey Robot Wants To Take On America’s MegaBot
HEXA Six-legged Spider-like Robot Wants Everyone To Be A Roboticist
This is HEXA, an arachnid-like programmable robot that leverages on six limbs to achieve what its creator claims to possess high maneuverability. HEXA is not a spider; it is two legs short of being a spider, but as far as the demo goes, it is just as maneuverable, if not more maneuverable, than a four-legged robotic spider. HEXA is the brainchild of Beijing-based Vincross who has developed it with mass consumer market in mind. Vincross believes that robots are the next big platform, but due to it (the robots) being inaccessible to the general consumers, be it due to price, the complexity or too simplistic, it has not grown in the consumers as it should have. Continue reading HEXA Six-legged Spider-like Robot Wants Everyone To Be A Roboticist
As It Turns Out, Goldfish Can Actually Make Alcohol When Oxygen-starved
Living things cannot live without air that has a reasonable level of oxygen content. Fishes, such as the goldfish and their carp relatives too, but as nature has it, these aquatic lifeforms can survive longer when oxygen is lacking such as when in murky water or when the water over them freezes during winter. As it turns out these fishes have the ability to make alcohol when oxygen level drops. To understand why this is happening, all you have do is to look at other animals’ (human beings included) response to the lack of oxygen. Continue reading As It Turns Out, Goldfish Can Actually Make Alcohol When Oxygen-starved
100-Year-Old Fruit Cake Uncovered In Antarctica “Looks” And “Smell” Edible
You know who’s Robert Falcon Scott? Don’t know? Neither do I, but never mind. He was a British explorer that lead a team on a British Antarctic Expedition sometime between 1910 and 1913. So, it is no surprise that you and me aren’t aware of this brave forebear. However, today you will learn at least one thing about him: he probably had a thing for fruit cake because this party-favorite (and my favorite) dessert was uncovered in Antarctica’s oldest building constructed by a Norwegian exploration team in 1899. The same building was said to be occupied by Scott’s team during the Cape Adare-based Northern Party’s Terra Nova Expedition in 1910-13. Continue reading 100-Year-Old Fruit Cake Uncovered In Antarctica “Looks” And “Smell” Edible
Festo’s BionicOpter Mimics Dragonfly Flight, Makes You Question Reality
Mankind was once fascinated by the idea of flight. Now that we have achieved it (flight), some companies are still striving to find ways to replicate flight by nature’s creatures. Festo, a German industrial control and automation company, is one such company. We have seen many fascinating examples, including the likes of BionicKangaroo, super life-like seagull and more recently, creepily eery octopus tentacle, coming out of the company’s Neckar research lab. Continue reading Festo’s BionicOpter Mimics Dragonfly Flight, Makes You Question Reality