MIT Unveils Robotic Manipulator Filled With Coffee Grounds

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."

Re:Now that's clever.

[Mister Transistor]

Lame First aside, actually it is.

If you have ever seen a vacuum-packed brick of coffee you know what this is all about. It's ROCK-HARD until you break the seal, then it all falls to dust as the air gets in the package.

Re:

[HiThere]

It sounds good, but the coffee grounds aren't the new part. That's a couple of years old. The new part is mixing it with cables, which is probably a bit trickier than it sounds like.

FWIW, I suspect that coffee grounds aren't a particularly good choice, outside of being cheap, and gleaning lots of PR. But when they're dry enough they aren't all that heavy. And they don't like to pack tightly, which is fairly important. But I think something sturdier would be better. Say hollow aluminum marbles. (They'

Re:

[Mister Transistor]

Actually, I have also seen whole coffee beans packaged this way, too - the same effect applies, the little bricks of coffee beans are also rock-hard. Apparently the granular size of the filler isn't too important to the process - it just has to be un-compressible enough so that when it's all packed down together it doesn't alter or lose its shape.

Re:

[blakelarson]

I saw this presentation at ICRA. Believe it or not, they actually tested several materials (coffee, sand, glass spheres, diatomic (?) earth) and the coffee performed best in their tests. I'm sure there are better materials, but don't assume they didn't think of it.

women rejoice

[circletimessquare]

they just built the most awesome dildo ever

Re:women rejoice

[BobNET]

I can remain in a hardened state for extended periods of time using little energy!

So can anyone, it's called rigor mortis.

Re:women rejoice

[HatofPig]

When she told me she was a necrophiliac, I should have gotten the hint!

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Necrophilia is dead boring.

Re:

[Gaygirlie]

Not over my dead body!

Re:

[MacGyver2210]

Guess it's funny then that this phenomenon is known as 'jamming'...

I detect a new fetish.

Japanese men rejoice

[Anonymous Coward]

Japanese men rejoice. Tentacle porn is no longer limited to a drawn form.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Will MIT call it S.C.H.L.O.N.G.?

Pfizer patent

[BoogeyOfTheMan]

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

Didn't Pfizer patent this?

Re:

[Alunral]

Dunno if they can patent a penis.

Re:

[BackwardPawn]

Collecting licensing fees can be a bit sticky, though.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe Cap Toys did?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vac-Man

Re:

[spitzak]

See your doctor if it exceeds 4 hours

Re:

[TuringTest]

But Pfizer solution didn't manipulate the actuators with cables.

Cable driven trunks.

[Animats]

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.

Re:Cable driven trunks.

[EdZ]

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.

Re:

[MickLinux]

No, the coffee grounds are so that they can patent a combination maid-service and coffee-maker.

Taken from the last line...

[idbeholda]

"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".

Vac-Man is dead...

[Anonymous Coward]

Long live Vac-Tentacle!

Stretch Armstrong has a new nemesis!

Wiki Citation [wikipedia.org]

That's what she said

[istartedi]

The whole summary is just a perfect setup.

We've secretly replaced

[Intropy]

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.

What could possibly go wrong?

[xt]

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]?

AND THIS JUST PROVES

[jimmydevice]

my caps lock was on, and you're thinking the same thing Everyone else was. Pervert.

NOT a dividend of space exploration

[timeOday]

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.

Re:

[Dekker3D]

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.

Re:

[simonebaracchi]

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?

Re:

[John Hasler]

> ...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.

Re:

[GameboyRMH]

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.

Re:

[Barbara, not Barbie]

As much as I would love this for my house, I've spent too many hours perfecting my coffee brewing almost down to a science. It would be a waste of the robot's time and mine to do a job I already do great and to have the poor thing gathering dust in a corner.

Roomba to the rescue!

Hey, how well does this coffee robot run Java? And is Oracle going to sue MIT?

Electrical materials

[nurb432]

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 ).

second clip in the video

[tryptogryphic]

The second video clip was totally of a boner deflating...totally.

coffee grounds

[mapkinase]

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

[cstacy]

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