For quite some time now, Festo, a leading pneumatics company, has been innovating in the robotics field by creating impressive and very unique robots inspired by nature.
The video below, is a good summary of their innovative work.
Make sure you also have a look at their Youtube channel recently populated with lost of videos.
Via BotJunkie.
Hitec has just released waterproof servo motors! These servos can function while immerse in water and come in two versions: Micro and High Torque.
Hitec Waterproof Servo Motors
Thanks to these servos, is is now very easy to create underwater robots or vehicles since the usual waterproofing hassle is no longer required. The Micro and High Torque motors are available for pre-order at RobotShop and stock should be arriving soon.
Here’s a fish robot that can lead an entire school of fish.
Researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University has managed to create a robotic fish capable of displaying leadership and being the leader in a school of fish by using mathematics and artificial intelligence.
One possible application for this new fish prototype would be to lead schools away from man-made disaster areas.
The BP oil leak is a good example.
In this way, a large percentage of underwater fauna could be saved and taken to clean water.
For the time being, the fish robot is only evolving in a small pool of water.
The next step is to create an automatic recharge system for the electric motor. For example, using vibrations from underwater currents, waves, etc.
So this born leader could work for weeks in order to escort its fellow creatures in flesh and fishbone into drinking water.
The robot, Seaglider by iRobot, is now in the process of working in the collection of data in the Gulf of Mexico, in the ecological disaster zone caused by the BP oil leak.
Its main mission, says iRobot, is to pinpoint the oil slicks.
The project is led in collaboration with the Department of Marine Science at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Seaglider can stay almost 10 consecutive months in deep waters.
The robot can descend to a depth of 1000 meters (3290 feet).
It’s able to model the oil slicks in 3D, take the water’s temperature, its salinity and other components.
We recently told you about the oil spill and the important role played by robots to contain it in the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico and the BP offshore oil rig.
Here’s a first new video reported by DeepWaterHorizonResponse yesterday, from a site of support and reflection in order to find a solution to this ecological catastrophe: DeepWaterHorizonResponse.com.
The spill in pictures… not nice to see:
South Korea is going to inject 20 thousand won, that’s 18 million dollars, to develop underwater robots.
The aim is to invent robots that can swim but also walk on sea beds up to depths of 6000 meters by 2016.
The initiative is supported by the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs in South Korea.
The robot will have to be able to swim at a speed of 18 m per minute and walk at 30 m per minute.
The primary mission of this type of submersible robot is to explore sea beds and conduct scientific experiments in the environment.
source: korea times
Wally is a submarine robot made in Germany and created by a team lead by Laurenz Thomsen from Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany.
Wally’s special feature is the ability to be controlled directly through a computer connected to the internet in Germany for example, while the robot is 900 m underwater off the coast of Canada.
Wally, an autonomous robot, began its underwater exploration work in December 2009 for the Canadian observatory, Neptune (North East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments).
The robot can measure many things, such as temperature, pressure, strength of ocean currents, salinity of water, methane concentration, etc.
The data and energy it needs to move are transmitted by cable via observatory stations in the Neptune network (6 observatories connected by 800 km of cables).
Wally has 1.5 km2 of observation ground available.
source: sciences.gouv.fr
Researchers have succeeded in developing an autonomous robot for underwater operations.
Named SAUVIM (Semi-Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention Missions), it was developed by the University of Hawaii in collaboration with MASE.
The robot performs underwater operations on its own, such as the self calibration of its system to start, then finds and moves objects by arranging itself in the best positions.
Sauvim is then able to return to its departure station via its integrated navigation technology.
A “Live” section on the Sauvim site shows real-time images filmed by the robot during missions, according to its schedule.
Project research is funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
More information on the Sauvim site.
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