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The brain hacks that make climbing in VR feel real
When I talk to friends and family about VR, their most pressing questions are usually about immersion. Once they've finished asking about the possibility of vomiting, the conversation turns to: "And how real does it feel?" "Do you believe you're really there?" Truth be told, I've never had that sensation -- a complete and utter submission of my senses -- although developers are getting better at tricking my brain for a few fleeting moments.
Oregon State's robo-ostrich blindly clambers over obstacles
So what if some mechanical cheetah can hop curbs in stride? The ATRIAS bipedal robot from Oregon State University can now step over obstacles without even looking. For this experiment, the ATRIAS was not outfitted with an imaging or navigation system and could only react to obstacles once it ran into them. As you can see in the video below, a 15-cm step is no match for this robo-ostrich. Even when planting its foot awkwardly or catching a toe, the ATRIAS soldiers on. It's only a matter of time until climbing stairs is just a walk in the park for the high-stepping automaton.
Stanford University makes its own Gecko-inspired wall climbing pads
Military types are obsessed with the Gecko because of the unique structure of its feet, which enable it to climb walls like Spider-man. Earlier this year, DARPA told the world that one of its labs had built a pair of pads that would enable a 218-pound person wearing 50 pounds of gear to pretend that they're Tobey Maguire. Of course, the method for building the pads was a closely guarded secret, but a team at Stanford University believes that it's cracked the formula. In essence (really paraphrasing here), the group started with PDMS -- polydimethylsiloxane -- a composite more commonly found in water-repellant coatings, skin moisturizers and at least one franchise burger joint's chicken nuggets. The substance was then molded into microwedges to increase the surface area, and crammed into a hexagonal plate with a handle. Testing is still underway, and as you can see in the video below, it's not the most exciting thing to see -- but we figure that millions of teenagers are currently adding this to their gift lists in the hope of making it easier to sneak in and out on a Friday night.
Soldiers of the future will climb walls like Spider-Man
The mad scientists at DARPA are encouraged to come up with crazy schemes to provide the US with an edge in future military campaigns. It looks as if the Z-Man Program, presumably subtitled "project make soldiers climb walls like Spider-man," has come to a successful conclusion. Copying the physical structure of a Gecko's toe, a team at Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass., has constructed a pair of paddles that enable a 218-pound human to scale a wall with a 50-pound load strapped to their back. Naturally, it'll be a while until we see snipers scaling enemy buildings with this sort of tech, but it's a damn sight more useful than suction cups or a strong rope and a lot of pulling.
Climbing robot melts and cools plastic to get its footing
We've seen plenty of robots scale walls over the years, from models that emit supersonic streams of air to gecko-inspired creations, but few can carry more than their own weight, much less handle rough terrain. Enter this unique Swiss-made machine, which handles both tasks with aplomb thanks to the rapid melting and cooling of its thermoplastic adhesive feet. Created by the whiz kids over at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the plastic compounds in the contraption's tootsies melt at around 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit), where they're tacky enough to stick and fill surface gaps. If the bot needs to take a step forward, a thermoelectric effect kicks in to cool the plastics down, detaching the foot in the process. Repeat the motion several times and you get a tiny climbing critter that's able to carry about six to seven times its own weight over complex surfaces, a feat that's sure to be of actual use someday. It's certainly more practical, though a lot less fun, than one that mixes cocktails. Go on after the break to see the little climber in action.
Ladder-climbing robot brings us one step closer to extinction (video)
Will finding high ground save you when SkyNet becomes self-aware and Terminators annihilate the human race? Doubtful, thanks to Japanese robotics company Muscle Corp., which has built a robot that can climb ladders...and other stuff. "Dream Robo" certainly isn't the first wall-climbing robot, but its eerie anthropomorphic shape is guaranteed to send its victims into paroxysms of terror when it slowly, inexorably make its way up the side of a building to sate its hunger for human blood. Muscle Corp. President Hirofumi Tamai says the robot only took three months to build, with 15 companies collaborating to create the vertical killing machine. The device incorporates five motors: two in the shoulders, two in the legs, one in the back, all of which can be seen in action in the video above. No word on the specs of the beams that rain hot, fiery death from its chitinous, soulless black eyes, but we'll be honest -- our fear wouldn't allow us to inquire.
Treebot climbs trees, is a robot (video)
Remember when you didn't consider climbing trees a chore? Treebot doesn't -- but then, it wasn't programmed to know boredom. The robot was designed by a team at The Chinese University of Hong Kong for the express purpose of shimmying up trees autonomously, figuring out the best route up a trunk using built-in touch sensors. The 'bot's body is designed like an inchworm, expanding and contracting as it works it way up -- unlike other climbers we've seen. Treebot can carry up to 3.7 pounds as it inches along, opening up the possibility of using the machine to prune hard to reach leaves. It can also shuffle up a variety of different plants, including bamboo stems, as evidenced by the sped-up video after the break. Unwieldy foliage, you've been put on notice.
Climbing robot can scale walls on a supersonic stream of air, won't leave fingerprints behind
There are plenty of wall climbing robots roaming the Earth, but few can scale heights as gracefully as this little guy can. Developed by researchers at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, this bot can wind its way across any glass, metal or cloth terrain, without even touching its pods to the surface. The secret lies in Bernoulli's Principle, which states that as the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases. This phenomenon also applies to streams of air, which, when moving at high speeds around of a circular gripper, can create a vacuum strong enough to hold things without actually touching them. In this case, air shoots out of the robot's feet at more than 2,000 miles per hour, creating enough pressure to lift the craft, while holding it close to the wall. The technology isn't new, but rarely can it support the weight of an entire device -- let alone the extra cargo that this climber's non-contact adhesive pads can hold. Researchers say the supersonic grippers will be available in "some months" and will probably cost "a few hundred dollars." As for the bot itself, Canterbury's engineers envision it being used for industrial inspections -- though the more we think about it, the more we realize just how dirty our windows are. Video after the break.
SRI's electroadhesion tech enables new army of wall-climbing robots
When the inevitable Robot Apocalypse goes down, you can credit SRI International for helping the forces assimilate. The aforesaid entity has apparently been toiling around the clock on a technology it's calling compliant electroadhesion, and to put things simply, it gives robotic climbers the ability to scale all sorts of walls made of all sorts of materials. Tests have shown wall-gripping robots climb surfaces made of steel, brick, concrete, glass, wood and drywall, which effectively eliminates any hope of you surviving the fallout based on the construction choice of your bunker. Thankfully, it does seems as if this could also be applied to human footwear, giving Earthlings at least a fighting chance of standing toe-to-toe with these guys on the side of the Menara Kuala Lumpur. Head on past the break if you're looking for a horror film. Or a demonstrative video... same difference.
Robot equipped with hook-like claws and pendulum can climb carpeted walls
ROCR -- the Oscillating Climbing Robot -- was developed at the University of Utah by William Provancher. Its main talent is the ability to climb carpeted walls by using its hook-like claws and is powered by a motor and a pendulum tail that wings like a grandfather clock. Designed to move efficiently and in the vein of a human rock climber, ROCR is able to climb an 8-foot carpeted wall in just about 15 seconds. The team's findings will be published in Transactions on Mechatronics this month, and while future applications include possible uses as an inspection or maintenance tool, Provancher says that in the short term, ROCR will likely be used for education or as a "really cool toy." Video is below.
Bioloid robot goes climbing on its own, will one day rip you from your hiding tree
It's a well documented fact that the Robot Apocalypse is only a matter of weeks, moments or scores away, but today we're facing the grim reality that it may already be underway in certain sections of Germany. Thanks to a tie-up between whiz kids at the Technical University of Dortmund and University of Manitoba, the so-called Bioloid you see above can actually scale walls on its own. As in, autonomously. The robot doesn't rely on a predefined motion sequence; instead, it looks up and figures out the most efficient way to get from the bottom to the top based on the X / Y positions of the grips. Future versions of the critter will utilize a full-on vision system, but hopefully we'll have outposts established on Mars by then in order to maintain some semblance of freedom. Peep the horror show after the break (if you must).
ICM's Climber robot ready to ascend
International Climbing Machines' Climber certainly isn't the first of its kind, but we'll admit, this thing can handle some pretty daunting tasks. After successfully lasting through a number of field deployments this year, this wall climber is reportedly ready to take on the world in assignments such as "climbing the surfaces of C-5 / C-137 airplanes, decontaminating a vessel in a Nuclear Power Plant and removing paint from concrete walls for the Department Of Energy." Apparently, this iteration trumps many similar alternatives due to its ability to scale ceilings, rounded / rough surfaces and overcome obstacles that protrude up to 1-inch from a given surface. The rig can be controlled from the ground with a handheld remote, and attachments can be added for painting, cleaning, drilling or just capturing imagery from above. Mum's the word on pricing, but feel free to check out a couple more shots after the jump.[Via Gizmag]
Leaping robots could embark on interplanetary exploration
Just as ASTRO and NextSat get ready for decommissioning, a duo of lightweight leapers are getting geared up to take the proverbial next step from testing to interplanetary exploration. Jollbot and Glumper, crafted by a group of mechanical engineers from the University of Bath, could provide solutions to "traveling across rough terrain, such as climbing stairs and jumping fences, that normally create obstacles for wheeled and walking robots." The machines utilize biologically inspired mechanisms that enable them to clear heights of up to 1.17-meters and capriole forward about two-meters at a time. Researchers are hoping to equip the devices with solar panels in order to keep them juiced up and ready to pounce at a moment's notice (you know, in case a stray asteroid comes zipping in), but there's been no plans made yet to get devices such as these launched into orbit.
DS addiction: just can't put that DS down!
Avid flickr user and mountain climber extraordinaire Rappateng recently had a buddy of his take some snapshots during their latest mountain-tackling adventure. A few of the snapshots are of great interest as Rappateng reports he took several breathers to throw down in some Mario Kart DS mid-climb. We can't condone such an activity as it presents several clear dangers. These include: Dropping the DS Lite to its doom Banging the DS Lite against a rock while trying to snake No Wi-Fi connection in nature Jealous friend could very well kill you with a rock, take your DS Lite, and leave you to rot under a pile of Poison Ivy We assume Rappateng's next adventure will include climbing some icy mountain in a foreign country, all in an attempt to make the most badass Christmas card ever.[Via Infendo]
