Tag: Robots

Seen here about to lose at rock-paper-scissors (I’m choosing rock), Clone Robotics’ Synthetic Hand v18 is the latest and greatest version of a humanoid hand created by the company. This 1:1 scale iteration of a human hand features artificial muscle fibers and custom valves that allow it to move eerily like the real thing.

Because our scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they never stopped to think if they should; researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a giant flying robotic spider. Named SPIDAR (the all-too-obvious acronym for ‘SPherIcally vectorable and Distributed rotors assisted Air-ground amphibious quadruped Robot’), the four-legged beast can take to the skies thanks to a total of 16 thrusters on its legs.

Developed by researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s (KAIST) Department of Mechanical Engineering, the RaiBo quadruped robot was designed to be able to tackle any terrain. The robot is even capable of traversing loose sand at around 7 MPH.

Because what good is a robotic housekeeper if it can only clean the ground floor, engineer James Bruton challenged himself to build a robot capable of ascending and descending stairs. It accomplishes the task via its three sections, which it can lift and lower individually, making stair-climbing possible.

Because in the future, all our entertainment will be produced by robots; we now have a video of the robotic One Hacker Band covering Nirvana’s classic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ That song is 32 years old now, by the way.

Developed by a team of mechanical engineers at the University of Maryland, this 3D printed hand is dexterous enough to use a Nintendo controller, and even manages to beat Super Mario Bros. World 1-1 in the video.

Recently on display at Pack Expo 2022 (I’m sad I missed it), this high-speed donut sorting machine developed by Soft Robotics, Inc. can sort donuts by variety and handle them all without damaging its precious, doughy cargo.

Because why should anywhere be safe from killer robots of the future, researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have gone and developed MARVEL, a quadruped robot with magnetic feet it can use to climb metal walls.

Constructed by brilliant engineer Shane Wighton of Stuff Made Here, Jigzilla is a jigsaw puzzle assembling robot that uses machine learning to determine which pieces fit together and where. In the video, Jigzilla tackles a custom 4,000-piece all-white jigsaw puzzle made by Shane and manages to complete the whole thing except for the very last row.

Speedfolding, the name given to a pair of industrial robotic arms coupled with a ‘machine vision’ neural network called BiManual Manipulation Network (BiMaMa-Net), can fold up to 30 to 40 garments an hour. The robot, developed by researchers at UC Berkeley’s AUTOLAB, can pick up a garment laid before it in any random position and proceed to fold it in about a minute or two.

After the robotic uprising, all sports will be played by robots, reducing humans to mere spectators of our own demise. And ready to compete in the robotic PGA is Golfi, a robot designed to be able to sink putts with the very best of them.

Researchers at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms have developed an autonomous robot capable of assembling new versions of itself, as well as other building structures. Not only that, multiple robots can transfer both power and data modules from one to another, allowing the newly constructed bots to begin performing tasks on their own.

Because scientists are working hard to make sure the future is going to be nothing like Back to the Future II led me to believe, WaddleWalls are an interactive partitioning system that can set up semi-private walling around a person on the fly.

Robots can do some pretty amazing things these days. Sure, there are concerns about humans losing their jobs to automation, but you have to remember that there are lots of high-paying jobs created for engineers and roboticists to design, build and program the robots themselves, and many of the jobs robots take on are laborious tasks that can be harmful or stressful to humans anyhow.

ZeGoBeast’s eponymous mechanical creatures are based on Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests and are delivered as a flat pack kit. The company now aims to give its creations more life-like qualities by equipping them with electronics. The ZeGoBeast Electric are scorpion-like creatures that are powered by an Arduino microcontroller and come with an array of sensors.

In the DARPA Robotics Challenge, the idea is to create a robot that can navigate an obstacle course, using skills that could help save humans in an emergency. On the flip side, we may also be creating robot overlords that will one day decide to rule us meat sacks.