NYUPolytechnic
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Tot Bot helps physically disabled toddlers explore
As any parent of a small child knows, toddlers want to explore. They want to look and touch (and sometimes even taste) everything. It's how they learn about the world. Unfortunately, kids with certain physical disabilities can't move about as easily. This difficulty can create a bit of a cognitive gap between them and other kids their age. The Tot Bot is a chair designed to give these children the increased mobility they need to investigate their surroundings thoroughly.
3D zebrafish can replace real animals in the lab
A few years ago, zebrafish became the new lab rat because of their genetic similarity to humans. So, when a team of researchers from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering decided to develop a virtual alternative for lab animals, they chose the tropical freshwater minnows. The team used real-life data to develop a platform that simulates zebrafish swimming in three dimensions, which is accurate enough to replace the animals in experiments.
Robot fish get upgraded, keep schooling real-life counterparts
Okay, so they still look like Depression-era bath toys, but Maurizio Porfiri's robot fish have come a long way from the coconut-and-tin-foil look they were sporting last summer. In an attempt to further "close the loop" between robotics and nature, Porfiri has continued to tinker with the little leaders by incorporating diving and surfacing into their aquatic repertoire, and it seems to be working: real fish have shown interaction patterns including tracking, gathering, and following in the presence of the pesci-bots. Now if they could just do the same with the the feral ferret living in our bedroom walls...
Robot fish demonstrates leadership, could lead real aquatic life to safety (video)
It may look like a lobotomized coconut and a stray bit of tin foil, but Maurizio Porfiri's robot fish is something we don't see often: an attempt to naturally control wildlife. With an electroactive polymer locomotion system designed to mimic the powerful motions of fish leaders, his fake fish can trick schools of real ones to follow. The idea is to one day steer helpless creatures away from dangerous objects like turbines, but there's still loads of work to do before then -- presently, the robot can only swim in two dimensions, and requires a battery to operate. Porfiri's team at NYU Poly is already researching ways to harvest energy from the water itself, though, and he expects to have his fish powered by waves before long. Watch an early prototype in action after the break.
