Micro-aerial vehicles, or MAVs as they're called in the elusive underground, are far from new, but a team from
NC State University is hoping to advance the field with an all new critter. The Robo-Bat is a remote controlled creature that relies on a super elastic shape-memory metal alloy for the joints, which is said to provide a full range of motion while enabling it to "always return to its original position -- a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats." The crew is also utilizing other "smart materials" in the muscular system, giving it the ability to react in real time to environmental changes such as sudden wind gusts. Ideally, this bionic chiropteran would be used to chivvy those who dare step foot on Franklin Street or inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, but in less malicious situations, it could help well-meaning scientists get the bottom of that whole "aerodynamics" thing.
posted Jul 7th 2009 9:27AM
I want one!
me too
I want two
I want...to see a video of it working!
They said...
never mind
First zombie apocolypse, then robot revolution uprising, now this? Man we are doomed!
With any luck, the robots will decide to attack the zombies.
Remote controlled Vampires?
GO PACK!
Did anyone else read "super elastic shape-memory metal alloy for the joints, which is said to provide a full range of motion while enabling it to "always return to its original position" as "a spring"?
yes, reading is fun.
right...... they got that tech from the crashed ufo at area 51, but shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone else.
It is basically a spring, yes. But not the kind you shoot out of your ballpoint pen at the teacher during science class, I would think.
It is an alloy that has spring-like properties. Kind of like the coiled metal spring that used to be in thermostats. Some of the alloys react to heat, others electric current.
So yeah, you're kinda right.
In my best Telemundo announcer voice:
It's a glorified, new and improved, bionic, extreme, bold, game changing spring.
wolfpack!
VtS > Wolfpack
"Tar Holes"?
Enlighten me...
a name for us tar heels.
well, when it comes to march madness, it's pretty much unc and duke anyway
UNC, Duke, & NC State are all very close to each other. College basketball is huge in NC and the choice of allegiance to a particular school has been known to split families. Dukies = Duke fans, myself included & Tar holes = UNC fans (Their athletes are Tar heels but since most people that go to UNC are a$$ holes you get Tar holes).
Tar holes... I'd not heard that one/
John: spoken like a true dookie. It's a good thing that duke fans are known far and wide for the level of class they bring to the court...
* rolls eyes *
(though to be fair, dookies anent NEARLY as bad as Maryland fans...)
@John
I love how you use dollar signs when cursing...it reminds me that Dookies are all rich snobs from New Jersey...yeah Duke is the University of New Jersey, Durham campus.
Oh, and for the record, when we say the schools are "close", we mean that there is local transit that will take you between all three schools, and there is actually a dedicated bus between Duke and UNC.
Oh, and as for Maryland fans, they are most definitely the most obnoxious losers in the entire country, but the fact that they hate Duke makes it occasionally funny (because they do stuff that we at UNC would consider below us).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYOgC2Qbqh4&fmt=22
@ Brad Green: I'd have to agree that there are far too many New Yorkers/Jersey guidos at Duke, but they really only comprise about 15% of the student population (though they're so obnoxious that I guess it does seem like a lot more than that).
At the same time, UNCCH only takes about that many (15%) from out of state - not exactly picking from the cream of the academic crop, if you ask me. But hey, basketball championships make your degree more valuable, right? :)
Tar Holes, ha ha.
That's cool. NC State is the best!
I believe the correct spelling is Dookies.
no, dookies come out of your tar hole.
they all suck, boooo ACC, Big East FTW in 2010
Rofl. I love having a North Carolinian writer. Go Pack!
Yeah! Go Pack!
*bumps "Go Pack!"
It's really nice to go to the only school in the Triangle that has any hope of being posted on Engadget, isn't it, guys?
It is a grand change from the typical!
Go Pack!
Not just posted; it has its own tag!
I'd like one!
Have fun with your toys, losers. We Tar Heels are perfectly happy winning championships.
true dat
Right, because college is about winning a kids game. No one cares about doing anything meaningful at a university.
I think the title of this post says otherwise... That and NCSU hasn't been relevant in over 20 years.
If by relevant, you mean they aren't good at kid's games. I'll give you that. As a university where one can get a good education. You couldn't be more wrong.
we had 3 championships this year, but thanks for playing ;-)
"We?" So... you're on the team, then?
But will this survive a ride on the outside of the Space Shuttle? (Space Bat, may you rest in peace little buddy)
Did anyone else have the movie The Birds flash in their heads upon reading this?
Beyond the ditches West of Raleigh, there lies a place called Hell.
GO PACK!
You made my day.
Is it the end of the world yet?
Bravo on the title ... I'm a NCSU grad =)
I can tell you have some experience with the rivalries around here.
HEELS! (you know - the national champs!)
In Ultimate Frisbee? Sportist.
Damn, so I should have picked State over UNC for my Ph.D? Guess I need to go back and tell State that I will in fact accept their admission.
Yes... if you wanted to be the one that develops the technologies and methods that allow Ph.Ds & M.D.s to suck at their job and still manage to pull off semi-effective medicine.
The pompousness of a tarhole knows no boundaries and the false sense of general superiority is always at a high with the ones that can actually get a job in their field of study.
State had 3 national championships this year, FWIW.
This bat is pretty cool, would love to check it out sometime.
So...at State, when they're not having sex with their cousins and farming, they actually do something productive. That's wonderful. They should get a lollipop!
Oh, and to all the haters:
GO HEELS!!! 2009 CHAMPIONS BABY!
I feel sorry for all the women at Chapel Hill...all those guys and not a one willing to turn their eyes toward them.
It's alright, though...they find plenty of company over here in Raleigh just fine.
So. We are not that far f rom the mini flying robot which sits in the corner of the room, videos your secret password and bank account details, doesn't actually radio them to some distant source (detectable you see) but instead waits until you've left, flies out of the room, then transmits or, returns to base with all the details.
Of course, government agencies will use these first, then the villains will get hold of them.
How the hell do you notice something somewhere in a room with just a millimetre-or-two of size, that is not transmitting (therefore not conventionally detectable) and which can access your most private secrets?
Also. Unlike the real bugs, it is not susceptible to the usual killer asshole spray (is that how its spelt?)
i need one =\
Such an interesting thread. Just to clear it up, here are the facts for those that aren't in this area.
- It's not Dukies, it's Dookies.
- They do indeed call us Tar Holes
- State is the red-headed stepchild in this area. No athletics to speak of, no academics outside of engineering.
- Carolina and Duke are two of the best academic schools in the country, not to mention two schools at the pinnacle of sports.
- Carolina is the national NCAA basketball champ. State didn't even make it into the field of 64. It's sad, considering Sidney Lowe is the one classy guy at State.
Now State students, back in your hole.
Port,
Thanks for going ahead and proving Carolina fans are gigantic a-holes. We were trying to convey that point, but you came in to save the day and hammer it home for us. 'Preciate it!
Now, as to your "academic superiority," you would be well-served to google the terms "UNC" and "grade inflation." Seems it's pretty rampant over there in Chapel Hill, to the point that a trained monkey could walk through the halls and walk out with a diploma. Question: If everyone gets a diploma, is it really worth anything?
Have fun with your philosophy degree that took zero classroom effort to "achieve" and see how far it gets you in life. Bad news for you: Starbucks is contracting, not expanding, their store locations. So you're quickly running out of employment opportunities. Hey, there's always McDonalds...
P.S. Make my McDouble WITHOUT onions this time, please.
I need one of these.
However little it will matter to the flame war that's getting started, the comment by Lionhart on the first page was mine. I didn't confirm it, because in afterthought it wasn't necessary, but apparently it got posted anyway. This one's going downhill quickly. If you post "facts", make sure they're facts.
University of Texas has the world's largest urban bat colony living under the Congress Street bridge. And by urban, they mean Cryps and Bloods and will drive by bat yo' ass.
Creepy as hell, but interesting none-the-less.
Dukies
Tar-Holes
+1 for humor.
NC State sucks. But Carolina swallows.
GO DUKE!!!