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Robotics Hardware Technology

MIT Unveils Robotic Manipulator Filled With Coffee Grounds 60

An anonymous reader writes "MIT researchers have developed a highly articulated robotic manipulator based on soft materials that can harden to reposition the device. The technique is known as jamming, and it relies on pouches filled with granular material like coffee grounds; when air is removed from the pouches, they become rigid. The researchers combined jamming actuators with cables to build a manipulator resembling an elephant trunk. They say the device is low-cost, capable of grasping a variety of objects, and can remain in a hardened state for extended periods of time using little energy."
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MIT Unveils Robotic Manipulator Filled With Coffee Grounds

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  • they just built the most awesome dildo ever

  • by BoogeyOfTheMan ( 1256002 ) on Friday May 18, 2012 @11:55PM (#40048985)

    "...can remain in a hardened state for extended periods of time using little energy."

    Didn't Pfizer patent this?

  • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @12:33AM (#40049159) Homepage

    That idea has been around for a while. Several snake and trunk like cable driven robots have been built. Some are a tube around discs, with three cables arranged to pull on each disc. Each disc is then a controllable joint. Combining this with pressure, vacuum, and a jamming medium is interesting, but it's not yet clear how useful.

    And no, it's not cheap. You still have a servomotor on every cable, plus valves and an air compressor. Coffee grounds are probably a temporary choice. Something like glass or plastic beads, which won't absorb water, may last longer.

    • by EdZ ( 755139 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @07:00AM (#40050325)
      This is cheaper, because it only needs 3 servos for the entire arm, rather than 3 for each arm segment, and still maintain independent segment motion. You can lock (jam) all arm segments, release one for motion, move it (reshape that segment) while keeping the others rigid, then lock it again.
    • No, the coffee grounds are so that they can patent a combination maid-service and coffee-maker.

  • by idbeholda ( 2405958 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @12:35AM (#40049173) Journal
    "They say the device is low-cost, capable of grasping a variety of objects, and can remain in a hardened state for extended periods of time using little energy."

    In The Industry, they're called "fluffers".
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Long live Vac-Tentacle!

    Stretch Armstrong has a new nemesis!

    Wiki Citation [wikipedia.org]

  • The whole summary is just a perfect setup.

  • by Intropy ( 2009018 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @01:13AM (#40049325)

    Here at MIT in one of the world's finest robotics labs we've secretly replaced the coffee grounds in these articulated manipulators with rich, sparkling Folgers crystals to see if scientists can tell the difference.

  • by xt ( 225814 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @01:17AM (#40049337)

    Following the second link [ieee.org] of TFA, I saw the picture of the robot [ieee.org] and it was somehow familiar [wikipedia.org]... What could possibly go wrong [wikipedia.org]?

  • by jimmydevice ( 699057 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @01:56AM (#40049455)
    my caps lock was on, and you're thinking the same thing Everyone else was. Pervert.
  • by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Saturday May 19, 2012 @02:24AM (#40049561)
    Since this is powered by ambient air pressure I guess NASA won't be too interested. On the flipside, the concept might be fantastically powerful underwater.

    .

    I want the next bear I shoot (just kidding) stuffed with coffee beans so I can pose it, pump out the air, and use it as a couch or coffee table.

    This could be an extremely protective packing material if you pump out the air to harden it after letting it conform to the shape of the object in the package.

    Sandbag walls might be much stronger if the air were sucked out of the bags after they're stacked to make them lock into place against each other.

    • It might be possible to create a sheath around the arm (after all, there are no sharp or otherwise dangerous parts sticking out of it) that would give it some pressure. That way, it could work in space.

    • Sandbag walls might be much stronger if the air were sucked out of the bags after they're stacked to make them lock into place against each other.

      except for the fact that they will become useless (or just like standard sandbags) after a shot makes the air gets in?

      • > ...after a shot makes the air gets in?

        There exist uses for sandbags that do not involve bullets. I can't think of any where rigidity would be desireable, though.

    • It could still work in space. Pump air in to unlock, suck air out to lock. It might not be as flexible in the unlocked state though.

  • If you used materials that convert to a solid when a current is run thru them i think it would work better.

    I know that exists for fluids, so the trick would be for something less solid in its normal state. ( think true synthetic mussels ).

  • The second video clip was totally of a boner deflating...totally.
  • Using non-used coffee grounds is waste, used coffee grounds smell terrible.

    That's why I predict that this invention will fail. "Golden age" of robotic manipulators is over.

  • Contact your doctor if your manipulator stays jammed for more than 4 hours. This can be a serious condition.

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