ChibaInstituteofTechnology
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ICYMI: Becoming Thor, the future of beekeeping and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-215343{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-215343, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-215343{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-215343").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The FlowHive is a new bee colony rig that allows beekeepers to tap the honey easily by cranking open the honeycomb design, creating a channel down to the spout. Japanese inventors created a throwable robot that flies through the air as a sphere, then unfurls four legs to scuttle its way onward. And maker Alan Phan re-created the God Hammer aka Mjolnir aka Thor's cool hammer-- with an Arduino-controlled fingerprint scanner and a super-charged electromagnet.
Japanese researchers invent a throwable 'Droideka' drone
A team of researchers from Japan's Chiba Institute of Technology recently presented a novel robot design at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. It can be thrown like the Explorer camera sphere, but after it stops rolling, this nimble quadruped unfurls mechanical legs to skitter the rest of the way to its destination -- basically the same idea as Star Wars' Droideka, just without the laser cannons (yet).
Robotic wheelchair concept adds leg-like movement, tackles stairs with ease (video)
Why choose between legs and wheels when you can have both? Well, that's the theory behind a robotic wheelchair concept from the Chiba Institute of Technology, which uses leg-like motion to conquer obstacles a run-of-the-mill wheelchair can't. The key is the five axes its base rotates on, allowing individual wheels to be lifted off the ground and moved in a walking style. It can tackle steps and various other obstacles whilst remaining stable, and can even turn 360 degrees around its center with the help of some onboard stabilizers. A gang of sensors on the chair detect incoming obstructions and deal with them automatically, but changes in wheel torque can act as substitute triggers, should the sensors fail. Judging from the video below, it's pretty advanced for a concept, but its creator wants a bunch of people to try it out so he can "fine-tune the user experience." It may not be quite as cool as Stompy or the mighty Kuratas, but it's definitely more practical for a trip to the shops.
fuRo Core bipedal robot can squat with a 100kg payload, puts your puny muscles to shame (video)
What's nearly two meters tall, weighs 230kg, and can lift the equivalent of a generously proportioned man? No, it isn't the ED-209 from RoboCop, but rather the latest robotic biped from Japan. The Core project that's being developed by the fuRo lab in Chiba's Institute of Technology may look and sound quite a bit like your favorite rogue drone, but its objective is rather more peaceful. The hope is to deliver increased mobility for handicapped people -- beyond what wheelchairs can provide, hence the bipedal locomotion system -- and things seem to have gotten off to a good start with the ability to safely balance a 100kg load while performing squats. See that feat, along with some clumsy first steps, after the break.
