Hexapod Robot Controls Chaos to Make Right Moves
This remarkable looking little robot is using what would be called muscle memory in humans to adapt to travel over rough terrain. Resembling a scorpion, it is designed to control chaotic movements and...
View ArticleRobots Use Tricks From Nature to Climb Walls
The latest projects of Amir Shapiro, head of the robotics laboratory in the Department of Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheeba, Israel, are wall-climbers. In keeping with an...
View ArticleRobotic Insects Could DASH to the Rescue
The Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod (DASH) is being outfitted to locate victims that are trapped in rubble. RobotNext posted a blog on this invention back in October 2009. This is a...
View ArticleBy Imitating Insects, Microbots Demonstrate Hive Behaviors
Robot researchers constantly use nature as a model for new robotic developments. Here is another example of this in these microbots. In particular, the application to robotics has to do with the idea...
View ArticleHawaii Student Robotics Teams Face Oil Spill Problem Similar to One Off US Coast
In a case of simulation imitating life, high school students in Hawai’i are faced with finding solutions to a theoretical oil spill. The problem eerily mirrors the massive oil spill now occurring in...
View ArticlePlants May Supply Unique Materials for Robotic Actuators
It’s always fascinating to me that one of the best sources for new ideas in robotics is nature. Here is another case where living organisms have provided a model for mechanisms in a robot. In this...
View ArticleSeahorse tails provide inspiration for future robots
Adding to the list from nature that has inspired robotics development is the seahorse. And what is it about the seahorse that is so applicable to robots? It’s the tail. Actually, it’s the shape of...
View ArticleHopping Robot Has Soft Outer Layer with Metal Insides
An origami frog is not able to jump or even move at all unassisted. It is folded from a single piece of paper as in the image at the left. However, engineers at two universities have come up with a...
View ArticleRobotic Swans
There seems to be no end to the types of robots inspired by nature. This story about robotic swans had its start in an article that appeared in Tech Times several days ago. As I thought about how to...
View ArticleSwarm Robotics: Kilobots and Bionic Ants
Why is it that swarms of small creatures such as ants can accomplish big tasks? How are they able to kill a large insect or even a small animal and then bring it into their nest? It turns out the...
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