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Festo shows off robot penguins and other visions of the future


The folks at Festo have already proven themselves to be more than adept some intoxicating, slightly unnerving feats of robotics, but they look to have really outdone themselves with their latest group of creations, which all fall under the banner of the company's Bionic Learning Network. While they're all certainly impressive, the real star is undoubtedly the AquaPenguin which, in addition to being creepily realistic, is fully autonomous and even able to outperform its real-life counterpart in a few tasks, like swimming backwards. Of course, Festo apparently couldn't help themselves and also built a flying, blimp-like AirPenguin, and they applied some of the same basic technology to a number of other devices, including a robot arm that's precise enough to change a lightbulb, and a freestanding interactive wall that's sure to spruce up any lobby. Hit up the YouTube link below for a video that provides a brief overview of the whole lot, or head on over to Festo's site for the even better German version (plus some additional details on the projects themselves).

Read - YouTube, "Festo Bionic Learning Network 2009"
Read - Festo

[Thanks, Gunter]