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Robotics Space Hardware

Voltron-Like Modular Robot Demonstrated 84

Posted by Zonk from the i'll-form-the-sense-of-self-entitlement dept.
MattSparkes writes "The 'Superbot', a modular robot that transforms itself into different shapes in order to walk, crawl and clamber up inclines, has been demonstrated in at the University of Southern California. Each bot module is effectively a robot in its own right, and can move independently, flip over and rotate like wheels. They also have 3D accelerometers that let them know their precise orientation. The six sides of each module can dock with any other module. Once connected, the modules can communicate, coordinate shape changes and even transmit power. The bot's creators hope it will make a great working companion for places like, say, the Moon. Or Mars."
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Voltron-Like Modular Robot Demonstrated More

Voltron-Like Modular Robot Demonstrated

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  • Wii come in piece! (Score:5, Funny)

    by LiquidCoooled ( 634315 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:04PM (#18130848) Homepage Journal
    Wii come in piece!

    Imagine a beowolf cluster of WiiMotes coming attacking you and you get the idea.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by HTH NE1 ( 675604 )
      First they came for the Sarah Connors, and I said nothing, for my name was not Sarah Connor....

  • great... (Score:5, Funny)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:06PM (#18130858) Homepage
    The bot's creators hope it will make a great working companion for places like, say, the Moon. Or Mars.

    Oh, sure, send it to Mars and leave us completely defenseless against King Zarkon.

  • i for one... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I for one welcome our shapechanging superbot overlords

    ha an anonymous coward got it, eat that all you first posters :P

  • obsessive compulsory (Score:5, Funny)

    by denoir ( 960304 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:10PM (#18130884)
    1. I for one welcome our new modular overlords. 2. ... 3. Profit!
  • That doesn't sound very Voltron-like to me. I suspect that Getter Robo would be a more apt comparison.

  • Blazing Sword (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:15PM (#18130906)
    Hopefully this robot will be smart enough to form it's blazing sword at the BEGINNING of a fight instead of waiting until it is getting it's ass kicked.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I can take that Ro-beast just fine all by myself!

      --Hunk

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 )
      I remember one episode where the Lions took care of the bad guy without forming Voltron at all. I felt so ripped off. Sure you think an early sword would be a good idea but if you lost the prerequisite good guy ass kicking and saw it replaced with crap like story or character development, you'd be sorry.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Genom ( 3868 )
      Unfortunately, the Blazing Sword requires a Morale of 130. Attacking with lesser attacks, getting beaten on, etc... increase Morale, so they have to go a few rounds before they can pull it out.

      (Yes, I play far too much SRW ;P )

  • Neat (Score:5, Funny)

    by sharkey ( 16670 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:15PM (#18130912)
    Found some more footage: modular robot. [youtube.com]
  • The Replicators.

    When the robots gain the ability to create more of themselves using whatever metal they can get their pliers on, then we'll be in trouble.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by megmeister ( 1067884 )
      Um, as much as I love sg-1, you do know it's fiction right. What makes this news is that it's for real.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Eddi3 ( 1046882 )
        Um, as much as he was modded +2 Informative, you do know he was making a joke, right? What makes it funny is that people like you think he was saying it for real.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by aled ( 228417 )

        Um, as much as I love sg-1, you do know it's fiction right. What makes this news is that it's for real.


        This is slashdot, there's no such thing as a difference between fiction and reality. You should know it... unless you are not one of us...
    • Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!
    • But we already have a biological version, no need for robots.
      Whats the name of them again... oh i always for..OH YEAH, humans, those nasty buggers are spreading like crazy!
  • ...when it can "Form Blazing Sword!"
  • The videos are all very cute but there is no actual footage demonstrating the "polymorphic" robot actually changing shape from say a wheel to say a humanoid then say again to a Caterpillar. If a bunch of these cubes self assembled into a shape to perform a task I would be seriously impressed. Also did any one notice that the feet cubes had plates on the end for the "humanoid" robot so not all the cubes were identical. We need self assembling Lego not cubes with feet !!

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by problemchild ( 143094 )
      I also had another thought. If the cubes need to be aware of the configuration of all the other cubes then what is the limit to the number of cubes that can attach before we run out of comms bandwidth or memory in the device or CPU just trying to work out what shape it thinks it may be in?

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by name*censored* ( 884880 )
        For larger structures, you'd probably have the robots start assigning themselves as "leaders" or "coordinator" (either by convenient position, superior hardware or just random), so that it collects all the data of the robots in it's immediate vicinity and then reports to the other coordinator cubes. And then onec it outgrows that, have them create more and more eschelons. It would start to fall apart for complex movements or movements where all pieces are as dependant on their neighbours as the blocks on th
    • Actually if you follow the link at the bottom to the "previous robot with coordination problems" you eventually get to this page for MTRAN http://unit.aist.go.jp/is/dsysd/mtran/English/exp e rimentE.htm [aist.go.jp] where you can see a somewhat similar robot changing shape. It's interesting. A light flashes when it disables a magnet or something, and then can rotate the modules away from their previously locked position.

  • Now is as good a time as any to ask... (Score:4, Funny)

    by straponego ( 521991 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:34PM (#18131034)
    I seem to have missed part of my geek education. Could somebody please explain to me why the whole shape-changing robot thing is useful? Like, in the middle of a battle the robot in question, what, ducks around a corner and folds into the shape of an eight ton cassette tape, and the bad guys come rushing around the corner and... what's this? He's gone! There's nothing here but this cassette tape the size of a semi truck! And it's snickering at us! Oh, well.

    But I agree, we should definitely let our mighty, nigh-invulnerable robot slaves establish an unassailable beachhead on Mars. Also, we should give them human-like motivations, emotions, and needs, so that they may better serve us. And, some of them should look just like humans, so that they can use our equipment and so people will be more comfortable around them.

    • "Could somebody please explain to me why the whole shape-changing robot thing is useful?"

      Somebody's never seen any of the Terminator films.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Dunbal ( 464142 )
        Somebody's never seen any of the Terminator films.


              You just proved his point, as the shape changing terminator got killed by the non-shape changing bad guys in the end... therefore shape changing is useless ;)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by rHBa ( 976986 )

      Could somebody please explain to me why the whole shape-changing robot thing is useful?

      A modular robot that can easily disassemble itself and share parts with other robots would be pretty handy on the moon don't you think? If the robot could fulfil a useful roll with one or more modules inactive/jettisoned it would be much more useful than one which is useless as soon as it gets a flat tyre. Once a robot has too many broken modules to play an active roll in exploration its working modules could be scavenged by other robots.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fbjon ( 692006 )

        share parts with other robots
        But what about robot STDs?


        Robot1: *detaches third limb*
        Robot2: "Oy, keep your parts private!"

    • I seem to have missed part of my geek education. Could somebody please explain to me why the whole shape-changing robot thing is useful?

      You might want to read up on Self-Reconfiguring Modular Robotics [wikipedia.org]

      For me the ultimate goal is to have your standard house bricks be actually built as robots which can form themselves into whatever type of structure you might want this year/month/day/minute. Imagine a future where intelligent building materials roam the Earth making themselves into homes for homeless people

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ebuck ( 585470 )
      Memories! You're talking about memories!

  • A new world of practical jokes (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mal-2 ( 675116 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:37PM (#18131054) Homepage Journal
    Now instead of wrapping someone's toilet in plastic wrap, you can wrap someone's robot in plastic wrap and watch the look on his face when the robot won't reassemble itself to his orders. Or wrap one segment only, and watch as it tries to assemble itself. Hilarity ensues.

    Mal-2

  • Change that Shape Baby (Score:5, Informative)

    by problemchild ( 143094 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @09:45PM (#18131104)
    I'm afraid the Japanese lump looks much better it even demonstrates the units changing shape which is what its about I think :)

    http://unit.aist.go.jp/is/dsysd/mtran/English/expe rimentE.htm [aist.go.jp]

  • Voltron? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Squib ( 124309 )
    Where are the lions? And the myriad of chromatically matching drivers?

    And Pidge? How could they forget Pidge???
  • I am not putting down the developers of this "superbot", I applaud them...I cannot get even close to making anything similar. But I thought I'd see it walk on the ground like a human being, find a hanging rope, sense what it is and go ahead and climb it...or at least see it [automatically] transform itself into different forms in order to traverse different terrain.

    Question though: What language might have been used to program this thing?

  • Turn your volume down before watching the video!! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Assassin bug ( 835070 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @10:24PM (#18131308) Journal
    The robots have a high pitched and annoying sound! Consider my hearing checked!!
  • Show us your robot crank. YOU KILLED MY MOMMIE! http://threebrain.com/dailies2.php?daily=479 [threebrain.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by numbski ( 515011 ) *
      As Lance said just about every freakin' Voltron episode:

      "Wouldya look at the size of that thing?!? It's HUGE!"
  • I hope we only end up working together with the good planets of the solar system.

  • Not Voltron-like... (Score:4, Informative)

    by crankyspice ( 63953 ) on Friday February 23, 2007 @11:53PM (#18131734)
    This isn't Voltron-like at all; Voltron was originally one robot that was split into five pieces by the evil witch's spell!

    Why do I *know* that?!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by cranos ( 592602 )
      You're talking about the orginal Lion Voltron. Vehicle Voltron was a modular system.
      • With Voltron, as with Highlander movies, there should have been only one!

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Akaihiryuu ( 786040 )
          Technically, there was only one. The two shows we know as "Voltron" in the US were actually two completely unrelated Japanese shows. "Lion Voltron" was Hyakujuu-ou Golion, while the "Vehicle Voltron" was Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. The two shows had absolutely nothing to do with each other. It was the translators that decided to make changes to try to tie them together. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltron [wikipedia.org]

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by iamcf13 ( 736250 )
            Same thing was done when Carl Macek and Harmony Gold brought 3 unrelated anime series to the USA in the mid 1980s and called it ROBOTECH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech [wikipedia.org] ....

            Though Carl got savaged for stitching the 3 animes into 1 'story', I saw them years ago, and liked them, which opened the door to my appreciation of anime that I have today....
  • It seems to modulate sometimes when the robot flexes... is all that noise from the servos? What causes it, and why is it so loud?
  • This concept was already thought of and used in the 1983 (non-HIT) TV-series 'Terrahawks', as the 'Cubes from Zelda'. The Terrahawks was the not so successful successor to the well-known Thunderbirds series by the same creator. Thunderbirds @ imdb: http://imdb.com/title/tt0085099/ [imdb.com] Cubes: http://www.fab1.net/t-hawks/a-craft.htm [fab1.net] (on the image you can see them portray as a gun and a forcefield generator WHOA how'bout them apples?!)
  • Can these robots assemble themselves into a webserver mirror so that we can read the article, please?
  • For any other readers...there are 11-14 "university of southern california"s. Please specify next time if you can.
  • Shades of Robert Forward's Christmas Bush.
  • This robot seemed like it needed a special application to do each job. For the robe it had something to thread it to. To walk it had plates on the bottom of its feet. I was hopeing to see all the block start on the group and come toghether to make something then show off what that something can do. All in all ill just keep holding my breath for a robot that can do something on its own.
  • More like Seven Force from Gunstar Heroes.
    • btw, for those who don't know what I'm talking about. Seven Force was a boss that was basically a robot made up of various circles and cubes (Vectorman style) and could change shape and turn into different forms like a Spider Mech, Bipedal, etc.
  • ... big bolt in the robot's bellybutton area for?

    Unscrews it and robot's ass falls off.

  • Does anybody else see the resemblance between this robot and a Darwinian [doodeoo.com]?

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