A New Class of Inflatable Robots By OtherLab 44
HizookRobotics writes "Inflatable robots have the potential to be low-cost, lightweight, extremely powerful, and yet 'human safe' — in other words, perfect for many robotics applications. Here are two new examples: a 15-foot-long walking robot (a Pneubot named Ant-Roach) and a complete, inflatable robot arm (plus hand). Both of these robots were developed by Otherlab as part of their 'pneubotics' project (in collaboration with Meka Robotics and Manu Prakash at Stanford University), with some funding from DARPA's Maximum Mobility and Manipulation program. These robots use textile-based, inflatable actuators that contract upon inflation into specially-designed shapes to effect motion. Since these robots are built out of lightweight fabric-and-air structural members and powered via pneumatics or hydraulics, they exhibit large strength-to-weight ratios. For example, Ant-Roach is less than 70 lbs and can probably support up to 1000 lbs; the inflatable robot arm is less than 2 lbs and can lift a few hundred pounds at 50-60 psi."
Seems like... (Score:3, Funny)
I see... (Score:5, Funny)
Good luck to their marketing department (Score:5, Funny)
So, it looks like a giant blue monster out of the darker parts of Japanese adult animation, sounds like dance music played on cheap speakers, walks slowly, and, with that size:weight ratio, probably doesn't do well on windy days. Its "walk on water" demo was a little painful, too.
It's very cool, but I don't envy the guy who has to put together the sales pitch.