http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/ Engadget Comments for iRobot engineer builds stair-climbing robot for Masters thesis, not release http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 8:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 8:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 10:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
Also here is a youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqGOwqWBV-E]]>Apr 16th 2009 8:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 8:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 21st 2009 1:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 8:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 8:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/ I bought a Roomba and a Scooba, and while the Roomba has no alternatives I know of , other robotic vacuum cleaners are 3/4 times more expensive and just not as good.
I don't understand why they don't produce also a robotic lawn mower for a decent price, the actual models from Husquarna etc. cost upwards of 1500 euros and I'm sure that if iRobot can produce and sell the roomba for less than 500 euros (and practically pushed out of the market all other vacuuming robot makers and models) they will also be able to produce an affordable robotic mower.
Apparently this is still one of the commercial technology in which an american company leads the world, I whish I could buy more of their products and that they would renew their product line a bit more often.]]>Apr 16th 2009 9:21PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 10:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 11:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 10:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 9:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 16th 2009 10:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT

The iBOT is a very stable and mobile powered wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen in a partnership between DEKA and Johnson and Johnson's Independence Technology division. It is a medical technology, made to help people with severe mobility problems.

By rotating its two sets of powered wheels about each other, the iBOT can "walk" up and down stairs]]>Apr 16th 2009 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 12:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 1:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
...and I drive past iRobot every day going to work ;-]]]>Apr 17th 2009 8:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
That process is so complex that I dont think you could do it with any speed. One step is fine but 15 or 30? ... how much time is that going to take? I think the current models at iRobot are faster at stair climbing...

The other snag is the depth and rise to the stairs... with this robots "crutch" foot maybe it can adjust for the size of the stair.. but I can see a very compact set of stairs or a spiral stair case being a big problem for this bot.

Its a great idea though... I'm wondering what his thesis was about.. I'm sure it wasn't titled "stair climbing robot"... that would have been shit we did in high school with legos...]]>Apr 17th 2009 8:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 9:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
Real stair climbing/descending will only engage the top surface of each tread (and the landing). It is a complicated task that humans (plus dogs and cats) do well. From the first 2 or 3 steps our brain quickly appraises the rise and run of the treads such that we spend little additional bandwidth assessing the situation until we get to the top. Humans gain speed by intensionally "falling" (both up and down). Stairs with unusual rise/run ratios or changes in the ratio cause us to momentarily lose our balance while we reprogram. I expect that Asimo's famous stumble was a result of an error in rise/run assessment and the inability to quickly reassess before tumbling. Kamen's work is far ahead of Sony's as it negotiates changes in the COG. ]]>Apr 17th 2009 10:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/
For comparison reasons please have a look at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERrDB6qYdLw&hl=de
or
www.stairbot.de
]]>Apr 17th 2009 10:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/irobot-engineer-builds-stair-climbing-robot-for-masters-thesis/Apr 17th 2009 11:29AM