UAVs Make Test Run

In a collaboration between technology firm Qinetiq and Aberystwyth University, the first robot planes recently took test flights over UK farmland. The UAVs (autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles) stayed aloft about an hour on battery power and mapped nitrogen levels in soil to decide if they needed fertilizer. Jonathan Webber of Qinetiq says, "You don't need to put pilots in a vehicle where you are only collecting data, providing you can do it safely."

Hmm. With all the recent turmoil on the planet, why do we think they may be used for other applications?

Via BBC

Limbo On, Hexabot!

Partially developed by students at Nanyang Polytechnic Institute, the 6-legged spiderbot can climb stairs, squeeze into narrow places and navigate on harsh terrain. The Hexabot will be able to avoid obstacles and help rescue trapped victims or sweep minefields. When it lifts three legs it can really hustle. The video also shows it doing the limbo, most helpful when taking an exotic island cruise.

Via EE Times

Robo-Fish Take to the Water

Kristi Morgansen, a roboticist at the University of Washington, and her team have developed some robotic fish that group together to track other fish or pollution. So far there are only three that are each controlled by an onboard computer, depth sensor, compass and radio transceiver. While being tested, the robo-fish keep in touch with each other and alter their course when necessary with two pectoral fins and a tail for propulsion.

Morgansen says that by using several at a time there is a better collection of data. "Artificial fish have been on the wish lists of oceanographers and the military for years. It is hoped that mimicking nature's propulsion methods could allow vehicles to be more efficient and maneuverable, and deploying them in shoals would allow more complex missions."

We get it. Our enemies would never guess that instead of submarines we have schools of robotic spies.

Via New Scientist

BEAR Will Be Going to War

The Vecna Technologies Cambridge Research Laboratory near Boston recently revealed its BEAR (Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot.) Funded by Congress for over a million big ones, the bot can lift, carry, and put down humans in dangerous situations. It can also manage other heavy objects up to 500 lbs. over rough terrain and even stairs. The BEAR can travel on its "belly" for miles should the need arise. Vecna is also planning to make versions for healthcare, disaster rescue, and contaminated areas. Check out Robot Magazine for more details.

Via Robot Magazine

Black-I Robotics Creates LandShark to Sniff Out Bombs

Brian Hart lost his son in Iraq in 2005. Doing more than just grieving, he teamed with Richard Hart and and Arthur Berube to come up with Black-I Robotics and a series of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV robots) to go where humans should not. His LandShark can be programmed to plow up earth where a trip wire or explosive is hidden, or drop disrupters that sets off jets of water to disarm a bomb. Black-I is counting on the bot to be available next year with a hefty price of $65,000.00 to $85,000.00 a pop. When our tax dollars have to be used for war, we are all for them going this route.

Via Black-I Robotics

Tufts U. to Develop Bionic Caterpillars

Tufts University has received a $3.3 millon DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) grant to develop squeezable bionic caterpillars. The bots will be able to enter 1 cm spaces, then expand to a size 10 times larger. They are also bio-degradable. The research team will be programming the robotic insects to move in confined spaces, climb trees or buildings, and follow ropes or cables. Applications will include landmine detection, search and rescue, and perhaps even carrying smaller versions of themselves for tinier areas. For that kind of money, we figure they will learn to become robotic butterflies.

Via Tufts e-news