airpressure
Latest
Soft robot 'slug' oozes along with air pressure
As MIT proved recently with its squishy artificial fish, robots don't need to be rigid to propel themselves along (or freak us out). A company called Super-Releaser has applied the same logic for Glaucus, its new open-source soft robot. Unlike its swimming counterpart, this bot "walks" across land using air pressure to pump up different parts of its limbs in sequence. Admittedly, that results in a locomotion speed similar to the sea slug it's named after (see the video after the break) and it requires a tether. Still, the company is developing much more practical applications that use the same tech, like orthotic cuffs for rehabilitation and prosthetic sleeves for amputees. You can even 3D print a bot yourself using Thingiverse files and (slowly) terrify your friends.
Goodyear's self-inflating tires could improve gas mileage, leave Schrader valves unsatisfied
Reminiscent of Ghostbuster's Marshmallow Man, new Goodyear tires might just Stay-Puft on their own. The company is developing Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) tires with built-in pumps to keep themselves at the perfect pressure. The reason? Even slightly under-inflated tires can drop your mileage by 3.3 percent, costing you cash at the pump. For highway-hustling commercial trucks that's a whole lot of moola, leading the US Department of Energy's Office of Vehicle Technology to grant Goodyear $1.5 million towards self-plumping commercial tire development. For those of us who don't wear mesh hats, Goodyear is working on a consumer version in its Luxembourg lab. It's unclear exactly how they will work, but earlier implementations have a pipe that's compressed as the tire rolls, allowing air to enter the tire without bursting thanks to a pressure sensitive valve. With so much automated car technology now all we need is the kind that cleans out its own trunk and pumps its own gas. Check out the full PR after the break.
Final Audio Design's Piano Forte earphones promise concert hall sound at bank-breaking prices
Behold Final Audio Design's latest high-end earphones: the Piano Forte X-VII Series. Each of the four models that comprise the series features a large neodymium magnet driver, nestled inside a rigid metal housing made of alloy powder and natural resin, designed to minimize bad vibrations. The driver is a hefty 16 mm in diameter, and boasts roughly three times the surface area of your garden variety earphones, resulting in enhanced low frequency soundscapes. Final Audio Design also added a proprietary pressure ring to each model's diaphragm (to ward off sound artifacts), as well as special pressure vents (to optimize air pressure around the diaphragm). Internal air pressure, on the other hand, is kept in check thanks to the X-VIII Series' metallic earpads, which allegedly allow your ear to naturally adjust to any barometric shifts. Each of the four models comes in a unique metallic housing, reportedly capable of delivering different audio blends. But they all share one important characteristic -- they're really expensive. At the high end of the price spectrum are the X-G and X-CC models, which will put you back some ¥220,000 ($2,668). Bargain hunters, meanwhile, will have to settle for the VIII, priced at a slightly less obscene ¥80,000 ($970). Granted, these earphones may very well warrant that kind of cash and scientific hyperbole, though it's certainly difficult to gauge their value without taking them out for a spin ourselves.
Ben Heck fashions breath-controlled kick pedal for Guitar Hero
Ben Heck's at it again, and this time, he's cobbled together a breath-controlled kick pedal for use with Guitar Hero (or Rock Band, if that's your flavor) meant for people in wheelchairs, or who don't have use of their legs, but still want to get in on the rocking action. After tearing apart the kick pedal to expose its piezoelectric sensor, he mods it so that, rather than reacting to physical pressure, it'll react to air pressure. To get the job done, you'll need some PVC piping, a hot glue gun, and a drill. Hit the read link for full instructions and video of Ben himself testing out the device! [Via Hack a Day]
