iRobot shape-shifting ChemBot is back, and it's bad (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Oct 14th 2009 6:23AM
posted Oct 14th 2009 6:23AM
As you know, when iRobot isn't hard at work developing some adorable automated vacuum cleaners, it has a quite lucrative sideline in DARPA-funded research projects. On that front, it looks like we finally have some results to report back on that ChemBot project that first appeared on our radar early last year. Unveiled at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) yesterday, this palm-sized troublemaker is being billed as "the first demonstration of a completely soft, mobile robot using jamming as an enabling technology." The "jamming" in question is something called "jamming skin enabled locomotion," which traps air and a collection of loosely packed particles in a package made of silicon rubber. When air is removed from the pocket, the silicon restricts and seems to solidify. The robot consists of several of these pockets, which can be inflated or deflated separately, giving the device the ability to perform simple actions. This is all pretty rudimentary at the moment, but who knows? We may see Flubber in our time, after all. Video after the break.
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wild
Stretch Armstrong anyone?
I thought of the same thing
More like his arch-nemisis Vac Man actually.
Its alive!
Gesundheit! Do you need a tissue?
DOOOO THE LOCOMOTION WITH MEEEEE
This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen in a while...
That's freaky! I keep thinking that next year some mad Japanese scientists are going to do a female robot using this technology that will direct people in the zoo by day and invade our nightmares by night.
*shivers* It's the killer white blood cell from "The Fantastic Voyage"
YES! Exactly my thoughts (they'll use this for the remake, lol)!
The thing definately looks like it could be the future of robotics. Who needs legs when you can ooze yourself wherever you need to go?
I can see sex-toys manufacturers giggling now.
i can see quagmire giggling now
Giggity giggity.
oooh yeeeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh....
Ha! flubber....
How about this as a colon-bot?
D:
So... In that article with Phillips' 21st century mood ring, didn't someone say we need a 21st century pet rock?
Yep, looks like this is it.
This technology is exciting. Can't wait to see how it will apply for the Pentagon's application.
I guess the only thing I would wonder is how they plan to make this work on a mobile basis. It seems like the whole process hinges on moving air which isn't all that easy to do in a small setting (which is why it has all the tubes coming out of it). Maybe it's not meant for a small setting. Still, very cool. I'm sure it will be figured out.
As soon as this tech goes cordless I'll be scattering drawing pins outside my bedroom door, just in case!
:-0
We are so f**ked
Silicone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Not to be confused with the element silicon.
Silicone used for a mobile phone protector.
Silicones are largely inert, man-made compounds with a wide variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant, nonstick, and rubber-like, they are commonly used in cookware, medical applications, sealants, adhesives, lubricants, insulation, and breast implants.
Silicones are polymers that include silicon together with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and sometimes other chemical elements.
Flubber... or the T-1000
Come with me if you want to live.
*Pumps shotgun.*
I can't believe how clearly that video explained the technique used for jamming. If all of my science lessons had been that clear, I would have probably done better in school.
Agreed, nice to see they put the effort in on this vid.
'Jamming' makes me think of 'jamming the radar' in Spaceballs tho...
"It's Raspberry, sir!"
More funding for science education by stop motion animation.
Now that would be money well spent.
I for one welcome our Pudgebot overlords.
OMG, that thing is scary!!
it looks like a living blob!!
Sweet! A d20 that can roll itself!
It's a gamepod! //eXistenZ
awesome
the video has a censor bar XD
Stop Motion...
Oh how wonderful, now we've created our own blob, f all those alien made blobs in Antarctica! Seriously though, if I saw one of these blobs locomoting towards me, I'd kill it with an axe.
Is that gum youre chewing?
No it happens to be a cybernetic ball thats going to take over the world.
props for them calling it jamming.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffCmFDzaYyQ
suggested background movie for vid.
I'm thinking some kind of dynamic padding behind body armor...