Robotics - General News

This could go in the 'What new materials are there?' thread too. It's a neural network computer but its processing is with kinetic force not electrons.

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-could-enable-smart-aircraft-wings-that-morph

Instead of processing digital data, the mechanical neural network processes forces applied to it, twisting and morphing its shape depending on the stiffness of its beams. For instance, an even force applied across one side of the network can be directed by many beams to immediately create force in a wave shape at the opposite end, while an even force applied upwards could produce the inverse wave.

[...]

“You could do something neat like turbulence interference, where the wing gets hit by something and it locally deforms and morphs to try and keep the energy spread out in a way that the cabin feels nice and smooth,” he says. “Right now, wings are designed to do big motions, flex, distribute that across the wing, and that results in jerkiness in the cabin.”

 
Grey Havoc said:
www.theregister.com

Boston Dynamics sues robot dog tech rival Ghost Robotics

The way your computerized canine walks down the stairs looks familiar to us, claims MIT spinoff
www.theregister.com www.theregister.com
Click to expand...
That may be tricky. Unless Boston Dynamics can point to specific software, Ghost will be able to argue that an optimally efficient gait is determined by physics, meaning that 'convergent evolution' is inevitable.

Boston claims that Vision 60 and another of Ghost Robotics' robots, known as Spirit 40, infringe on its patents, including one related to how its robot dogs avoid obstacles while climbing stairs (allegedly infringing patent 11,073,842), and the methodology behind its walking gait and how it avoids being knocked off balance while moving (alleged to infringe US patent 9,387,588).

The key word would be 'methodology.'
 
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Restaurants eye robot help to ease labor shortage

Robot technology introduced at some eateries amid the pandemic to limit human contact might be here to stay, as restaurants look to automation to deal with staff shortages.
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Rakuten robots deliver Seiyu, Starbucks products day and night as service expanded

Rakuten Group, Inc. has launched a full-scale robot delivery service in the area around Tsukuba Station in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, following a demonstration experiment.
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp japannews.yomiuri.co.jp
 
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Honda to start testing self-driving electric cars

Honda Motor Co. plans to begin field tests for the development of self-driving electric cars in Joso, Ibaraki Prefecture.
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

japannews.yomiuri.co.jp

Toyota pushes AI to drive like pros

Toyota Motor Corp. on Sunday unveiled a self-driving car that incorporates driving data from professional rally drivers into its artificial intelligence, at its research and development facility in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture. The company is seeking to quickly put the technology to practical use to...
japannews.yomiuri.co.jp japannews.yomiuri.co.jp
 
hardware.slashdot.org

San Francisco Halts 'Killer Robots' Police Policy Following Backlash - Slashdot

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco supervisors have walked back their approval of a controversial policy that would have allowed police to kill suspects with robots in extreme cases. Instead of granting final authorization to the policy Tuesday in its second of two required votes, the Board...
hardware.slashdot.org

:rolleyes:
 
This is not new. Although it is beautiful to watch.

The clamp mechanism needs to be sized for damping the shock and, in their case, with a flapping wings drones, have it's own set of actuators and sensors to compensate for the lack of flight stability. Hence, it's a payload by itself that will compete with the UAV function.
 
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TomcatViP said:
Hence, it's a payload by itself that will compete with the UAV function.
Click to expand...
Good point! As an exercise in biomimetics, it's modelled on a bird, which has legs that are deadweight in flight. The pterosaurs combined the functions of ground locomotion and flight in the same limbs. The azhdarchids were particularly good at this: their powerful wing muscles were used for launch as well as flapping and, judging by grooves in their bones, had elastic tendons acting like bungee cords to recover energy during liftoff.

www.academia.edu

How Giant Reptiles Flew: Visualizing Quadrupedal Launch in Pterosaurs

How Giant Reptiles Flew: Visualizing Quadrupedal Launch in Pterosaurs
www.academia.edu

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRk_OV2cDkk



In nature, diverse functions are often combined in the same structures and organs. Experimental engineering - understandably - tries out just one at a time.

And if I'm going to suggest that the idea of a robot pterosaur is damn cool, I've definitely got to mention Paul McCready:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_TwlNDvdwE
 
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Spider-bot, spider-bot…does everything a spider ought
www.techspot.com

Quadruped robot with magnetic feet can climb walls and traverse ceilings

The team designed the robot, named Marvel, to assist humans in performing dangerous maintenance jobs on large metal structures like oil tanks, bridges and water towers. It...
www.techspot.com www.techspot.com

techxplore.com

Reaching like an octopus: A biology-inspired model opens the door to soft robot control

Octopus arms coordinate nearly infinite degrees of freedom to perform complex movements such as reaching, grasping, fetching, crawling, and swimming. How these animals achieve such a wide range of activities remains a source of mystery, amazement, and inspiration. Part of the challenge comes...
techxplore.com techxplore.com
phys.org

How robots can help in the fight against toxic algae

Harmful algae blooms in lakes are a major environmental problem, producing extremely dangerous toxins that can taint water supplies or harm other organic life—including people. Biologists can test water safety by collecting samples off the side of a boat, but getting relevant data is no small...
phys.org phys.org
techxplore.com

A robot that can help firefighters during indoor emergencies

Robots could be valuable assistants for most first responders, as they could help them to remotely monitor or intervene in areas that are inaccessible or life-threatening for humans. Firefighters, who are at high risk of getting injured during their missions, would undoubtedly benefit from the...
techxplore.com techxplore.com
phys.org

Robot helps students with learning disabilities stay focused

Engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo are successfully using a robot to help keep children with learning disabilities focused on their work.
phys.org phys.org

If it's Halloween---it must be AmphiSAW
www.azorobotics.com

AmphiSAW Robots Emerge as One of the Fastest and Most Efficient Robots

One of the quickest and most efficient amphibious robots named AmphiSAW has been developed by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev engineer Dr David Zarrouk and his student Omer Guetta.
www.azorobotics.com www.azorobotics.com
 
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idle.slashdot.org

Customers React to McDonalds' Almost Fully-Automated Restaurant - Slashdot

"The first mostly non-human-run McDonald's is open for business just outside Fort Worth, Texas," reports the Guardian. CNN calls it "an almost fully-automated restaurant," noting there's just one self-service kiosk (with a credit card reader) for ordering food. McDonalds tells CNN there's...
idle.slashdot.org
 

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