Better Bots
4 June 2008, 13:47
Categories: biomimicry molecular-machines--devices
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There have been a lot of recent developments in building better robots, both at the macro- and micro-scale. The video above shows how robotics researchers are increasingly turning to nature for inspiration. It includes a robotic salamander, a water strider robot, mechanical cockroaches and some cool self-configuring robots that were developed at: University of Essex, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Carnegie Mellon University, ULB-EPFL, Tokyo Institute of Technology, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST).
In a dramatic display of the potential of prosthetic arms, a monkey at the University of Pittsburgh was able to use his brain to directly control a robotic arm and feed himself a marshmallow. The research, published in the journal Nature, is the first to show that an interface that converts brain signals directly into action is sophisticated enough to perform a practical function: eating.
Researchers at SRI International have designed a climbing robot that uses a novel form of electrically activated adhesion to enable it to scale any kind of vertical surface. SRI’s robot works by inducing electrostatic charges in the surface of a wall. The attractive forces that create the adhesion come from electric fields generated by positive and negative electrodes within the surface pads of the robot. When a high voltage is applied to these electrodes, positive and negative charges build up, which, in turn, attracts opposite charges from the surface of a wall near the electrodes. The advantage here is that the adhesive climbing surfaces of the robot can be turned off, making movement much simpler. It also makes the robot’s adhesive surfaces self-cleaning, thereby avoiding any gradual buildup of dust and dirt that would ultimately reduce the adhesion, and tests have shown that the robot is capable of generating 1.5 newtons of sticking force per centimeter square of contact with a wall. The robot can even climb surfaces that are dusty or wet, be they concrete, glass, or drywall.
Duke University researchers have been working on microbots that assemble into planar structures. The microbot assemblies demonstrate advancements on an earlier design that was achieved at Dartmouth College.
At the nanoscale, nanomachine components would be molecular structures each designed to perform a specific task which, all taken together, would result in a complex function. Nanoscientists have already built molecular motors, wheels, and gears for powering nanomachines. Among these devices, the Rice University NanoCar has perhaps been the most celebrated. Following 2005’s groundbreaking invention of the world’s first single-molecule car, Rice University chemist Jim Tour and colleagues produced the first motorized NanoCar in 2006. The NanoCars are test transport systems that may one day deliver molecular cargo for nanoscale construction.
Posted by: The Editors
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