DailyDirt: Robots Making Their Move...
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robot locomotion doesn't seem very natural so far -- and there's almost an "uncanny valley" for how some robots move that make them look undead. But it won't be long before robots are moving more fluidly. Here are just a few projects that are developing machines that can move like animals and people.- Low-pressure air pumps can power "soft robots" that mimic the locomotion of invertebrates like starfish and squid. Watch them wiggle. See them jiggle. [url]
- The RoboBee is communicating with bees in their own "waggle dance" language. This robot bee isn't quite fluent yet, but it can almost give directions to real bees -- and it doesn't get attacked as an intruder to the hive. [url]
- The University of Michigan's MABEL biped robot can run a little over 6 mph -- beating Toyota's walking robot and ASIMO by a pretty good margin. MABEL will probably catch up to human marathon runners soon, but it isn't a wireless robot yet... [url]
- To discover more interesting robotics-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]
Filed Under: biomimicry, biped, locomotion, mabel, robobee, robots, soft robots