Robot mimics cartwheel movement of desert spider
Frankfurt, Germany (UPI) May 6, 2013 -
The newly discovered flic-flac spider is the gold medal gymnast of the arachnid world, cartwheeling and summersaulting its way along the sand dunes of Morocco's Erg Chebbi deserts, which border the Mediterranean coast.
The flic-flac spider, Cebrennus rechenbergi, is also the inspiration for a new robot.
Ingo Rechenberg, a scientist at the Technical University of Berlin, in German ...
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ATK Validates MegaFlex Solar Array For NextGen Solar Electric Propulsion Missions
Arlington VA (SPX) May 05, 2014 -
ATK has completed testing of its MegaFlex solar array wing under a contract with NASA Glenn Research Center (Glenn) to ready high-power solar arrays for powering large-scale Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) systems planned for use on future robotic and manned exploration missions.
MegaFlex is an innovative solar array design that includes a unique circular architecture, revolutionary unfurl ...
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Robots may need to include parental controls
University Park PA (SPX) May 07, 2014 -
Older adults' fears that companion robots will negatively affect young people may create design challenges for developers hoping to build robots for older users, according to Penn State researchers.
Companion robots provide emotional support for users and interact with them as they, for example, play a game, or watch a movie.
Older adults reported in a study that while they were not ...
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Advanced prosthetic arm is approved for US market
Washington (AFP) May 09, 2014 -
US regulators on Friday approved for market a new kind of prosthetic arm that allows a person to flex certain muscles in order to perform complex tasks.
The development of the DEKA Arm System - nicknamed the "Luke" arm after Luke Skywalker in Star Wars - was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Tests on 36 US military veterans who had lost their lower arms s ...
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DARPA-Funded DEKA Arm System Earns FDA Approval
Washington DC (SPX) May 13, 2014 -
DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm S ...
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Exoskeleton to remote-control robot
Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) May 09, 2014 -
Visionary 'rocket scientists' will share their ideas at the TEDx RocketMinds event at ESA's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
Andre Schiele, leading ESA's telerobotics lab, will attempt a very special demonstration of remote robotic operations. Donning an exoskeleton that weighs just 10 kg, he will control a robot at ESA's technical heart in Noordwijk, the Netherlands - over 400 km ...
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Imploding sub a 'tragic loss': Titanic director
Wellington (AFP) May 13, 2014 -
Hollywood director James Cameron Tuesday mourned a "tragic loss" after a deep sea research vessel imploded nearly 10 kilometres (six miles) beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The Nereus robotic research vehicle was exploring the Kermadec Trench, several hundred kilometres north of New Zealand, when it was crushed by the extreme water pressure.
"I feel like I've lost a friend," C ...
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UN talks take aim at 'killer robots'
Geneva (AFP) May 13, 2014 -
Armies of Terminator-like warriors fan out across the battlefield, destroying everything in their path, as swarms of fellow robots rain fire from the skies.
That dark vision could all too easily shift from science fiction to fact unless such weapons are banned before they leap from the drawing board to the arsenal, campaigners warn.
On Tuesday, governments began the first-ever talks excl ...
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Opportunity In Search Of Aluminum-Hydroxyl Clays
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 14, 2014 -
Opportunity is exploring south of 'Solander Point' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is approaching a region of aluminum-hydroxyl clay minerals detected from orbit.
On Sol 3650 (May 1, 2014), Opportunity drove more than 312 feet (95 meters), first straight southward, then southwestward, heading for the clays. With the rover conveniently near a ripple crest, on Sol 3652 (May 3, ...
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Ultra-fast, the bionic arm can catch objects on the fly
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) May 14, 2014 -
With its palm open, the robot is completely motionless. A split second later, it suddenly unwinds and catches all sorts of flying objects thrown in its direction -a tennis racket, a ball, a bottle-. This arm measures about 1.5 meters long and keeps an upright position. It has three joints and a sophisticated hand with four fingers.
It was programmed at the Learning Algorithms and Systems L ...
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One Million Solar Panels Later, Ecoppia Robots Keep On Cleaning
Herzeliya, Israel (SPX) May 20, 2014 -
Ecoppia has announced that its commercially-deployed E4 robotic cleaning system has now cleaned over one million panels.
Soiling - the accumulation of dirt and dust on photovoltaic solar panel surfaces - is one of the greatest impediments to solar energy production efficiency, and can reduce solar panel energy output by up to 35%.
Ecoppia - the only market player deployed at this sca ...
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SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft returns to Earth from space station
Los Angeles (UPI) May 19, 2013 -
After a month-long trip to the International Space Station, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, a cargo ship, returned to Earth over the weekend.
The ship was released by the space station's giant robotic arm, controlled by astronaut and station commander Steven Swanson. Let go, the craft fell from orbit 260 miles above the South Pacific - gravity returning it to the sea. The latter portion of ...
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Scientists study biomechanics behind amazing ant strength
Columbus OH (SPX) May 22, 2014 -
A recent study into the biomechanics of the necks of ants - a common insect that can amazingly lift objects many times heavier than its own body - might unlock one of nature's little mysteries and, quite possibly, open the door to advancements in robotic engineering.
A small group of engineers at The Ohio State University combined laboratory testing and computational modeling conducted at ...
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Nature inspires drones of the future
London, UK (SPX) May 27, 2014 -
Researchers have been taking tips from nature to build the next generation of flying robots. Based on the mechanisms adopted by birds, bats, insects and snakes, 14 distinguished research teams have developed solutions to some of the common problems that drones could be faced with when navigating through an urban environment and performing novel tasks for the benefit of society.
Whether thi ...
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New printable robots could self-assemble when heated
Boston MA (SPX) Jun 02, 2014 -
Printable robots - those that can be assembled from parts produced by 3-D printers - have long been a topic of research in the lab of Daniela Rus, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. At this year's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Rus' group and its collaborators introduce a new wrinkle on the idea: bakable robots. ...
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Velociraptor robot almost as fast as robotic rival Cheetah
Daejeon, South Korea (UPI) May 30, 2013 -
Luckily for Usain Bolt, robots aren't allowed to compete for gold medals. If they were, the new Velociraptor robot designed by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, might force Bolt to settle for silver - or bronze if Raptor's robotic rival Cheetah raced, too.
The new sprinting robot, Raptor, currently tops out at 28.5 mph. Bolt's highest clocked speed ...
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Google working on 3D motion-sensing tablet
San Francisco (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
Google on Thursday revealed that is working on a tablet computer with 3D and motion-sensing capabilities in an effort dubbed Project Tango.
"The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion," team member Johnny Lee said at a website devoted to the endeavor.
"Our team has been working with universities, research labs, and industrial partn ...
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Japan's SoftBank unveils 'family member' robot
Urayasu, Japan (AFP) June 05, 2014 -
Japan's SoftBank on Thursday unveiled what it billed as an "emotional" humanoid robot that will entertain customers at the mobile carrier's phone outlets - and maybe become a member of their family.
Company president Masayoshi Son joked around with the talking, dancing and singing humanoid named Pepper at an event just outside Tokyo.
The bug-eyed 120-centimetre (3.9-feet) tall robot ma ...
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Here come the 'brobots'
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 03, 2014 -
A team of researchers at the University of Twente (Netherlands) and German University in Cairo (Egypt) has developed sp*rm-inspired microrobots, which can be controlled by oscillating weak magnetic fields.
Described in a cover article in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which is from AIP Publishing, the 322 micron-long robots consist solely of a head coated in a thick cobalt-nickel lay ...
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Combat robots to become Russian army new recruits
Moscow (Voice of Russia) Jun 03, 2014 -
Russia's newly established military robot design lab has finally gone into operation, Oleg Bochkarev, deputy head of Russia's governmental Military-Industrial Commission told ITAR TASS news agency. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin was the first to have announced plans to set up a new laboratory at the Degtyarev arms factory in Kovrov last year planning to attract private investors t ...
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