Robotic Insects Make Flight

May 5th, 2013 | Robot

Robotic Insects

Robotic Insects 2

Robotic Insects

For the first time in history, a controlled robotic insect has taken flight.  A team led by researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard have created RoboBees which can achieve vertical takeoff, hovering, and steering.  The robotic insects are half the size of a paperclip and weigh less than 1/10th of a gram.

This achievement is the culmination of over 10 years of work across many laboratories at Harvard.  A major challenge has been manufacturing parts at a such a small scale.  “We had to develop solutions from scratch, for everything,” explains Robert J. Wood, principal investigator of the RoboBee Project. “We would get one component working, but when we moved onto the next, five new problems would arise. It was a moving target.”

Technical Design

The flight dynamics were inspired by the movement of a fly, with submillimeter-scale anatomy and two wafer-thin wings that flap 120 times/sec.

“The tiny robot flaps its wings with piezoelectric actuators—strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric
Robotic Insects 3field is applied. Thin hinges of plastic embedded within the carbon fiber body frame serve as joints, and a delicately balanced control system commands the  rotational motions in the flapping-wing robot, with each wing controlled independently in real-time.
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“

The control system had to be extremely robust due to the small scales in which the robot operates, and it all has to be mounted on board the flying insect. The team went through approximately 20 prototypes in the last 6 months, but thanks to a revolutionary Pop-Up Manufacturing Process, they were able to build reliable prototypes and test them aggressively.

Next Steps

“Now that we’ve got this unique platform, there are dozens of tests that we’re starting to do, including more aggressive control maneuvers and landing,” says Wood.

After that, the team will work to make the robotic insects fly autonomously and wirelessly.  This is involve upgrades to the flight algorithms, power source, and several communication components.
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“This project provides a common motivation for scientists and engineers across the university to build smaller batteries, to design more efficient control systems, and to create stronger, more lightweight materials,” says Wood. “You might not expect all of these people to work together: vision experts, biologists, materials scientists, electrical engineers.
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What do they have in common? Well, they all enjoy solving really hard problems.”

“I want to create something the world has never seen before,” adds co-lead author Kevin Y. Ma. “It’s about the excitement of pushing the limits of what we think we can do, the limits of human ingenuity.”

It will be exciting to see where this technology goes.

For a link to the paper published recently in Science, go here.

-RSB

Photos courtesy of Kevin Ma and Pakpong Chirarattananon

[via Harvard Gazette]

Brains Made from Household Objects

May 2nd, 2013 | Brain

household-brain-1

household-brain-2

household-brain-3

Kyle Bean has a way with organizing household items into intriguing designs.  In this recent project for Men’s Health Magazine, he transformed toothpaste, fruit, and newspapers into the undulating gyri and sulci of the brain.  I, of course, appreciate any creative representations of the brain, but I find these particularly well done.
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-RSB

[via Colossal]

The Saturn Rose

April 30th, 2013 | Space

Saturn Rose

saturn-hurricane

The Saturn Rose

Located directly over Saturn’s North Pole is a GIANT hurricane measuring around 1,250 miles  (2,000 kilometers) across with cloud speeds reaching 330 mph (150 m/s).  That is about 20 times bigger than the average hurricane here on Earth!  Another interesting difference is that it doesn’t seem to move around at all.  NASA stated that “the hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as The Hexagon.”   They went on to say that it has likely been spinning in the same location for years, but no one really knows why…

The image above was shot from the Cassini spacecraft which has been cruising around Saturn taking photos of the planet and its moons since 2004.  The hurricane has apparently been obscured by a long winter in the north pole, but the seasons have shifted, and we have recently gained enough light to see the beast in all its glory.
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Here’s how the image was taken:

“The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012, using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light.
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The images filtered at 890 nanometers are projected as blue.
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The images filtered at 728 nanometers are projected as green, and images filtered at 752 nanometers are projected as red. In this scheme, red indicates low clouds and green indicates high ones.”

In other words, they used false colors to show low clouds in red versus high clouds in green.  What an amazing solar system we have…

-RSB

[via NASA]

Magnetic Putty

April 27th, 2013 | Space

magnetic putty

magnetic putty

magnetic-putty-3

When you add small magnetic particles to silly putty, it’s transformed into a metal eating alien life-form. PBS Digital Studios and Shanks FX used the magnetic putty in parts of their recent film short SCI-FLY, and and the shots are pretty fantastic.

They recently released a new video showing the whole process in reverse and it’s really interesting to see how the experience changes.  I’ve been seeing a lot of the video comments describing these videos as a sexual experience, which I think is hilarious.  Maybe there are some silly putty fetishes out there?

Here’s a description of the material that was used in the video:

“Magnetic Attractor Putty is a non-Newtonian solid. This means that while the putty is technically a solid, it exhibits qualities of a liquid as well. Just let your putty sit on a flat surface for a while and you’ll see it spread out like a liquid. The magnetic properties of the Magnetic Attractor Putty come from a magnetic material being mixed in with the putty itself. There are millions of tiny micron-sized magnets embedded in the putty to ensure that it will respond to any large magnet.”

They should pay someone to wear a metal suit and get “eaten” by this stuff…

You can purchase the magnetic putty here.

-RSB

British Teenager Gets a Robotic Hand

April 26th, 2013 | Robot

Robotic Hand

Robotic Hand

Robotic Hand

Robotic Hand

A British teenager was recently outfitted with the world’s most advanced robotic hand, and he loves it. Patrick Kane was only 9-months-old when he was striken with a septic attack from Neisseria meningitidis.

Neisseria meningitidis

Neisseria meningitidis bacterium

Infection with the bacteria leads to rapid onset fever, headache, dizziness, nausea, anorexia, stiff neck, and in some cases, amputation is necessary to stop it. Patrick lost all the fingers from his left hand, part of each finger on his right hand, and his right leg below the knee as a result.

Fortunately, Patrick’s family was able to help pay for a £25,000-£80,000 ($40,000 – $125,000) i-limb ultra revolution robotic hand that has simply changed his life.  The new prosthetic can be controlled through an app with an iPhone to select from 24 unique programs.  Each program will select a unique functional grip specialized to perform different tasks like holding a cup of water or typing on the keyboard.

Here are the official specifications from Touch Bionics:

“i-limb ultra revolution features:

  • Powered rotating thumb and individually articulating fingers offering unparalleled dexterity and reliable access to precision grip patterns.
  • New biosim mobile control application compatible with latest Apple® products gives the wearer greatly expanded control capability via 24 Quick Grips each from a single screen tap.
  • New remote electrodes offer a higher level of sensitivity giving the wearer enhanced control.
  • A variety of flexible wrist options enabling more natural positioning of hand when gripping or picking up objects.
  • Aesthetic covering options available via the livingskin product line, including i-limb skin natural and i-limb skin match covers customized to match skin tone and appearance.
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biosim mobile control app features:

  • 24 Quick Grips – Instant access to grip patterns with a single screen tap greatly expands prosthesis control.
  • Favorites – Editable collections of grips customized for daily needs. For example, wearers can select the ‘work’ favorite, which triggers the i-limb into preferred grips such as typing, holding papers, or using a mouse.
  • Hand Health Check – Activates prosthesis diagnostic to ensure the i-limb is functioning properly.
  • Training – Access training modes to help the wearer learn how to access all of the functionality available.
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  • Compatibility – Available for download on Apple App Store and compatible with several Apple devices.”

It would be nice if the grips could somehow be accessed in a more intuitive way, something apart from the iPhone.  I can’t imagine it’s easy to open up the iPhone every time you want to switch to a new programmed grip.
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 Nonetheless, it’s always nice to see victims of terrible diseases thrive with new technology.

-RSB

[via Laughing Squid]

Digital Art from Adam Martinakis

April 24th, 2013 | Robot

Adam Martinakis 2

“The Headache”

150×150 cm – Printed on metallic pearl glossy photo paper, mounted on dibond.

Adam Martinakis 1

“Love for Light”

120×70 cm – Printed on metallic pearl glossy photo paper, mounted on dibond.

Adam-Martinakis-3

“The Point of No Return”

Adam Martinakis 4

“Accept and Deny”

Adam-Martinakis-5

“Fragmented Identity”

150×150 cm -Printed on metallic pearl glossy photo paper, mounted on dibond.

Adam Martinakis 6

“The Inevitability of Time / Despair”

Adam-Martinakis-7

“The City Men”

65×100 cm – Printed on metallic pearl glossy photo paper, mounted on dibond.

Adam-Martinakis-8

“The Power Game”

Adam Martinakis is the Polish/Greek artist who created these slightly frightening digital illustrations.   Almost all of his work has a sort of futuristic tension, or uneasiness, that I can’t seem to shake.
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 A real chill permeates through all of the pieces.
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I particularly like ‘The Headache.”  I’m sure if you have ever had a migraine, you might be able to relate…  I think it would be great if one of these could be made into a real sculpture because a show of his work in a museum would be quite the experience.

Adam currently lives and teaches art in Connock, UK.
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 For more of his work, check out his site.

-RSB

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