rolling bot
July 6, 2004 4:56 PM Subscribe
so those very early Disney 'toons weren't so far off after all.
posted by marvin at 5:01 PM on July 6, 2004
posted by marvin at 5:01 PM on July 6, 2004
Evidently they can even leap twice their own height by flattening out, then springing back into a circular shape. (Mikes List)
posted by marvin at 5:03 PM on July 6, 2004
posted by marvin at 5:03 PM on July 6, 2004
And the say that the next step is to make them 3-d.
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which is worrying.
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posted by seanyboy at 5:07 PM on July 6, 2004
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which is worrying.
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posted by seanyboy at 5:07 PM on July 6, 2004
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
posted by PigAlien at 6:32 PM on July 6, 2004
posted by PigAlien at 6:32 PM on July 6, 2004
Why didn't nature evolve something like this 60 million years ago?
posted by Faze at 7:30 PM on July 6, 2004
posted by Faze at 7:30 PM on July 6, 2004
And the say that the next step is to make them 3-d.
Has already been done, in large part, by the JPL and the Robotics Institute at CMU with the Inflatable Rover program. The idea is to form robot parts or even entire robots out of inflatable balloons---they're small and light for launch and then inflate to form a full-size rover on the target planet.
One rover uses three inflatable balls as tricycle wheels.
Another rover, "Tumbleweed", looks like the ball in Seanyboy's picture---it's a big inflatable sphere with an electronics package in the center. While it lacks any propulsion of its own, it's able to sense the wind---when it blows in the right direction, the robot will inflate and roll along toward its destination.
Challenges include preventing punctures and rips, the complicated physics of driving on such big, sqishy wheels, and figuring out where to put the sensors.
posted by tss at 7:35 PM on July 6, 2004
Has already been done, in large part, by the JPL and the Robotics Institute at CMU with the Inflatable Rover program. The idea is to form robot parts or even entire robots out of inflatable balloons---they're small and light for launch and then inflate to form a full-size rover on the target planet.
One rover uses three inflatable balls as tricycle wheels.
Another rover, "Tumbleweed", looks like the ball in Seanyboy's picture---it's a big inflatable sphere with an electronics package in the center. While it lacks any propulsion of its own, it's able to sense the wind---when it blows in the right direction, the robot will inflate and roll along toward its destination.
Challenges include preventing punctures and rips, the complicated physics of driving on such big, sqishy wheels, and figuring out where to put the sensors.
posted by tss at 7:35 PM on July 6, 2004
Maybe I jumped the gun...
The inflatable robots don't have fine control over the surface geometry of the ball, so I guess they can't do the complicated rolling and jumping maneuvers done by these Japanese robots. I suppose Tumbleweed could at least roll on its own, though, if it were made of a collection of separately inflatable chambers.
posted by tss at 7:41 PM on July 6, 2004
The inflatable robots don't have fine control over the surface geometry of the ball, so I guess they can't do the complicated rolling and jumping maneuvers done by these Japanese robots. I suppose Tumbleweed could at least roll on its own, though, if it were made of a collection of separately inflatable chambers.
posted by tss at 7:41 PM on July 6, 2004
Why didn't nature evolve something like this 60 million years ago?
Not to burst your bubble, but it did. They're called legs and feet. It turns out that you only need two spokes (legs) and the bit of the rim in contact with the ground (feet) to move. The rest of the wheel is superfluous. And as a bonus you can even move over uneven ground. Passive walkers are fun!
posted by euphorb at 1:57 PM on July 7, 2004
Not to burst your bubble, but it did. They're called legs and feet. It turns out that you only need two spokes (legs) and the bit of the rim in contact with the ground (feet) to move. The rest of the wheel is superfluous. And as a bonus you can even move over uneven ground. Passive walkers are fun!
posted by euphorb at 1:57 PM on July 7, 2004
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posted by hama7 at 4:59 PM on July 6, 2004