Geekie Gadgets

Dan Roe’s Solar-Powered Trilobot

by mydz on 12/06/09 at 6:00 am

Most robots today are used to do repetitive actions or jobs considered too dangerous for humans. They can explore inside gas tanks, volcanoes, Mars and other places too unsafe for humans to go. They never get sick, don’t need to take a day off, and they don’t ever complain. They can do one thing over and over again without getting bored – is that something you could do? Think about it – standing in one place doing the same thing all day and night would get pretty boring.

And now, here’s something that pays tribute to life forms from the olden days – the Trilobot that is solar-powered and fully autonomous, being smart to search out for its own juice to make sure the no human master will ever need to place it under sunlight whenever it “dies” when hiding under a couch for too long a period of time.

Designed by Dan Roe as a “kinetic art” project, this minimally designed sculptural robot is autonomous in control since its compound eyes differentially control rostral and caudal legs a weak phototropism, while its sensitive motors respond unpredictably to one another and to the surface that are moving over. This sculpture is designed with open source circuits and off the shelf technologies, including o-rings and hose clamps. Made of steel including its solar engine, it measures 10” x 7-1/2” x 3-1/2”.

iRobot Looj

by bs04c on 01/12/08 at 12:37 pm

iRobot Looj

iRobot Looj is the real thing and safe way on clean your gutters. Your gutter needs maintenance to avoid water damage, overspills and ice dams. Also an added precaution to avoid dirty gutters creates a breeding ground for carpenter ants, mosquitoes and other pests.

This saves your life from falling on the ground while reaching over your gutter and lessens your work of climbing and repositioning a ladder several times. Also reduce your burden of carrying so many tools that are too heavy that may cause you to kiss the ground. It makes your gutter cleaning fast and easier.

Imagine, it cleans your gutter in just minutes not an hour. And if you think gutter cleaning is a dirty and unpleasant job, this iRobot Looj will replace you from your anguish. This is the only and easiest way to keep your gutters free-flowing all year round. Plus you only use remote control to manage the cleaning.

Its Wireless remote control has a 75-ft. range, moves the Looj forwards and backwards, and changes the rotational direction of the auger to ensure complete debris removal. Looj attaches to an included belt clip to free up your hands and make it easier for you to climb a ladder. It uses a high power, rechargeable battery pack.

Search and pick them up in a minute, deal here.

iRobot 12101 Looj Electric Gutter Cleaning Robot

iRobot, Lawn & Patio, $65.00

Robotic fleas to the rescue

by jennyaguilar on 29/11/08 at 9:59 am

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. This same school of thought inspired as much cyber gadgets now introduced in the market.

Imitating human form and assignment is the driving force of the I-SWARM project. Funded by EU, this project is aiming on developing a small army of robotic fleas with collective artificial intelligence. These robotic fleas are envisioned to be at work in laboratories, whose every single task should be performed jointly.

The usual task for robots is to move some object from one place to another or to follow an intricate path with different obstacles. As a plan for future I-SWARM robot developers speak about dividing the army into groups and giving each group a specified task on the shared problem so the colony will have a sort of complex skill.

With more than one type of working robots,  there are different type models that has a role on different stages of work and were aimed to test one part or another. Powered by a tiny solar cell, this robotic gadget is four times smaller than a thumbnail.

A model that could work with batteries was considered to be big and needed a number of wheels to move. Without wheels robot can move with the help of vibration. And that’s it – no wheels mean small size and less weight.

Also every one in the swarm is equipped with an infrared port to exchange information with each other, and a processor of course. The “brains” of a robotic lice is an intricate thing, so is its operating system, which fits tight in eight kilobytes of memory and just two kilobytes of RAM.

Such robotic fleas could be useful in working in zones dangerous for people and many other possibilities.

Black-I Robotics Landshark DUCGV

by rheaver on 22/11/08 at 2:21 pm

Black-I Robotics Landshark DUCGV (unmanned crossover ground vehicles) are faster, stronger, and more affordable than most robots on the market today. The design has been recognized for its use in military operations and has been awarded an $800,000.00 contract from the U.S. Governments Technical Support Working Group (TSWG). They plan on developing and testing low-cost, robust, and mid-size unmanned ground vehicles that can be used for defense and homeland security operations.

Black-I Robotics utilizes (COTS) commercial-off-the-shelf in conjunction with propriety hardware and open source (JAUS) software. This technologically scalable core robot chassis makes it adaptable to several major markets. Applications can be used to assist First Responders, military and non-military EOD, SWAT, hazmat, physical security, firefighting, search and rescue, reconnaissance, battlefield casualty extraction, surveillance and target acquisition. With integrated software technology Black-I Robotics intends to create the most adaptable and affordable unmanned ground vehicles on the market.

Brian Hart founded Black-I Robotics Inc and incorporated it in 2006 in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. He was a senior executive in pharmacy automation when his son, 20 year old PFC John Hart, was killed in action in an unarmored Humvee near Taza, Iraq, in October 2003. He left a Fortune 50 Pharmaceutical company in 2004 to push Congress for safer military vehicles. His development of the Landshark DUCGV is in hopes that there will be less military causalities and less families suffering from that type of loss.

For more information on Black-I Robotics visit:

http://www.blackirobotics.com/

The BEAR – Vecna’s Lifesaving Humanoid Robot

by rheaver on 21/11/08 at 11:55 am

The BEAR or Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot is a search and rescue marvel. This humanoid style robot can rescue people in dangerous situations while avoiding the possibility of losing more human life. It was initially created for battlefield extraction but has been recognized for its other possibilities. Being the same size as an average man it can travel places that are not safe for humans but with the ease of a human. It can enter unsafe buildings and structures as well as biologically or chemically contaminated areas and search for survivors. It has the capability of lifting up to 500 lbs, making it possible to remove debris and carry most any human to safety.

The BEAR is created using three elements, an extremely powerful hydraulic upper-body, high mobility tracked legs, and dynamic balancing behavior (DBB) that allow it to balance upright on its ankles, knees, or hips. The hydraulic upper-body is similar to common “earth moving” equipment only in a smaller scale. The dynamic balancing behavior makes it possible for the BEAR to maneuver over any terrain, combined with the independent tracked legs it can travel on its knees or with its legs flat on the ground across treacherous areas while carrying a human body.

Applications:

• Casualty Extraction
• Building evacuation
• Long-distance transport
• Search & rescue
• Hospital patient transfers
• Eldercare mobility aid
• Hazardous materials handling
• Mine rescue
• Logistics & heavy lifting
• Zero-infrastructure warehouse automation

Vecna originally received funding from TATRC, the Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. Originally the BEAR was considered to be limited to battlefield extraction. Once the BEAR prototype was tested, the possibilities for this innovation started to surface. Vecna now promotes the BEAR to be useful in healthcare as a “Transfer Bot”. They would work with patients who suffer from mobility impairment in hospitals and nursing homes, assisting in lifting and moving the patients thus providing a better standard of care. Currently the BEAR is completely controlled by a human with remote access but plans for the BEAR include creating semi-autonomous actions which would allow for the BEAR to complete a task without the need of human guidance.

You can read more about the BEAR at Vena’s website http://www.vecnarobotics.com, Vecna has many great innovations and ideas that can change the world and attempt to make it a safer and better through the use of robotics.

The BEAR is shown here carrying a soldier from danger.