Archive for the ‘robotic’ tag

Nissan gets a ‘buzz’ out of crash prevention technology

October 2nd, 2008  I  Filed under Automotive, Robotics  I  0 comments 

Nissan Motor Co. engineers have taken inspiration for the development of their latest crash prevention technology from the bumble bee.

Based on joint research with the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo, Nissan has built the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive, or BR23C. It is a robotic micro-car that recreates bee characteristics with the goal of producing a system that prevents collisions altogether.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan Motor Co., explained: “The BR23C robotic car is positioned as the inner-most layer of this shield. We are expecting that this robotic car will support the development of future collision-avoidance technologies.”

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Pill bot sticks around for a clearer picture

August 8th, 2008  I  Filed under Bio Tech, Design, Robotics  I  0 comments 

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robotic surgical assistant with tiny adhesive hands, which will allow doctors to see what’s going on in a particular area inside the body of a patient.

Pill bots are not new. For many years doctors have used tiny machines, often attached to a camera, to see what is going on inside a patient, however, it is the adhesive hands which make this product unique.

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Hybrid robot is all heart

July 31st, 2008  I  Filed under Design, Robotics  I  0 comments 

A puppet with robotic features, Heart Robot is covered with sensors that respond to movement and touch. It responds to loud noises and agitation by appearing to become more anxious – it tenses up and its heart beats faster, while as its environment becomes less worrying, it relaxes and calms down.

The Heart Robot project has brought together researchers from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory at the University of West England (UWE), circus performers, artists, model makers, puppeteers and experts in animatronics.

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Robotic sea bream looks good enough to eat (video)

July 29th, 2008  I  Filed under Design, Robotics  I  0 comments 

Engineers at the University of Kitakyushu, have developed ‘Tai-robot-kun’, a 7kg robotic sea bream covered with realistic-looking hand-painted scales.

The robotic fish features a propulsion system that allows it to move its tail and drift silently through the water like a real fish. It can swim for an hour on a full battery charge, and relies on a ballast system, similar to that used in a submarine, to adjust its depth and buoyancy.

According to University of Kitakyushu professor Ikuo Yamamoto, the robot can easily be mass produced, fitted with various cameras and sensors, and released into the sea to perform a range of oceanographic survey tasks, without alarming sea life.

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Prototype to test space suspense

May 16th, 2008  I  Filed under Design, Robotics  I  0 comments 

Engineers have unveiled a sophisticated robotic prototype developed to roam the surface of Mars as part of Europe’s billion-euro ExoMars mission.

The new prototype, developed by MDA Corporation, will help engineers understand how the real rover will behave when it moves through Mars’ rocky terrain, and will test a possible suspension and locomotion set-up to be built into the final rover design.

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Exoskeleton amplifies strength, endurance and agility

May 6th, 2008  I  Filed under Military, Robotics  I  0 comments 

Raytheon is developing a robotic suit for the solider of tomorrow at its research facility in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Known as an ‘Exoskeleton,’ the suit is essentially a wearable robot that amplifies its wearer’s strength, endurance, and agility. Made of a combination of sensors, actuators and controllers, the suit enables a test engineer to carry a man on his back, or lift 200 pounds several hundred times without tiring. Yet, it is agile enough to play soccer and climb stairs and ramps without issue.

Development of the Exoskeleton has been underway since 2000.

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