Injectable Microbots, Steered by Magnets Deliver Drugs Exactly Where They’re Needed
Researchers from the Institute of Robotics in Zurich have recently developed an electromagnetically-controlled robot that can be delivered to the eye — by injection with a 23-gauge needle — and precisely positioned to sites where drug is needed.
…by coating the microbot with dye-containing nanospheres, the researchers have now repurposed the device to provide critical measurements of oxygen concentration in the eye to make quick diagnoses when vision unexpectedly fails. These new machines, and the apparatus which controls them, are part of a larger effort to deliver and control devices within several organ systems using remote power…
Steering is done by a device called the OctoMag control system (PDF). The OctoMag has three degrees of freedom (DOF) in positioning and two for pointing orientation. It is composed of eight DC-operated electromagnets arranged in a hemispherical configuration. It can create a maximum gradient of 1.5 Tesla per meter.
The microbots have a diameter less than 500um, and their length can be adjusted according to the size of drug reservoir needed. The researchers experimented with several materials for their microbot, but the best proved to be NdFeB (neodymium magnet). Most of the experiments thus far have been done in eyes from pigs or human cadavers.
(via Magnetically steerable, injectable microrobots could help treat blindness | ExtremeTech)
SFX Designer Builds Rideable Two Ton Diesel Robot Hexapod, “World’s Biggest”
Denton, an animatronics and special-effects designer whose portfolio includes “Prometheus” and “Lost in Space” with company Micromagic Systems, has an interest in hexapods that goes way back.
Over the years, he has built a few miniature hexapods at Micromagic. Mantis is his first giant-sized model, the result of four years of research, development, design, and building, and is, Denton claims, the biggest operational hexapod in the world.
The thing comes in at 9.2 feet tall, weighing 2 tons. It’s powered by a 2.2-liter turbo diesel engine and is designed to take on any terrain.
(via Finally, a giant hexapod tank you can drive | Crave - CNET)
Scientists Use Dumb Micro-Bots to Study Ant Navigation, With Applications for Self-Driving Cars, Data Routing
The researchers experimented with a swarm of sugar-cube-size antlike robots called “Alices.” A camera followed the Alices’ movements and used a video projector above the robots to lay down trails of light marking where the robots had traveled — similar to the way real ants lay down chemical trails of pheromones.
The robots were programmed to follow light trails with a pair of light sensors, avoid obstacles and otherwise move forward, randomly changing the angle at which they moved every few seconds. The robots lacked more sophisticated navigation techniques.
At the beginning of the experiment, in which the branches of the maze had no light trail, the robots simply moved forward at random angles. If the robots detected a light trail, they would follow that path. This basic strategy naturally led the robots to choose the path that diverged least from their trajectory at each fork…
“The robots show that you don’t need complex cognitive processes to navigate these mazes,” Garnier said.
…”The principles that ants use to find shorter paths have actually been the basis of computer programs developed in the last 10 years to help decide what are the best paths for trucks to transport merchandise between cities, the so-called traveling salesman problem,” Garnier said. “One of the most efficient algorithms to solve this problem is directly inspired by the same logic studied in our work, and is also used by telecommunications companies to route packets of information between cell phones.”
DARPA Develops Robot With Hands Dextrous Enough to Use Tools, Change a Tire
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has a robot that can change a tire, picking up the tire, getting it off and on the (simulated) wheel and using the lug wrench. This may sound pretty simple, but the point isn’t the changing of the tire — it’s holding the tools.
Robots that can hold tools are a lot more versatile than those built for a specific task, because then they can adapt to doing whatever is asked of them — instead of a robot that only tightens nuts, it’s possible to ask one to pick up a screwdriver as well.
(via Robot Changes Tires So You Don’t Have To : Discovery News)
Turing Machine Made of Artificial Muscles Paves Way for Smart Prosthetics and Soft Robots
In the hierarchy of computing hardware, artificial muscle doesn’t really even register: it’s usually a target for action, not the perpetrator.
The University of Auckland has figured out a way to let those muscles play a more active role. Its prototype Turing machine uses a set of electroactive polymer muscles to push memory elements into place and squeeze piezoresistive switches, performing virtually any calculation through flexing.
The proof-of-concept computer won’t give silicon circuits any threat when it’s running at just 0.15Hz and takes up as much space as a mini fridge, but the hope is to dramatically speed up and shrink down future iterations to where there are advanced computers that occupy the same size as real muscles.
Researchers ultimately envision smart prosthetic limbs with near-natural reflexes, completely soft robots with complex gestures and even a switch from digital to analog computing for some tasks. Although we’re quite a distance away from any of those muscle-bound ideas becoming everyday realities, it’s good to at least see them on the horizon.
(via Turing machine built from artificial muscles may lead to smart prosthetics)
Advanced Prosthetic Hand Ties Shoes, Deals Cards
This hand, the bebionic3, actually shows it doing some of the stuff you’d think it might: tying shoes, dealing cards, picking up household items, etc.
Those tasks make it sound mundane, but it’s actually a pretty darn impressive hand. Not only can it squeeze and pinch, it can also do some less commonly used movements, like making the rock-on devil horns or spinning in a full circle. It even automatically grips an object when it detects that the object’s slipping.
(via Watch This Unbelievable Robot Hand Tie A Shoe | Popular Science)
NASA’s Giant Robot Moon Termites 3D Print Habitations Using Dust and Microwaves
The first lunar base on the Moon may not be built by human hands, but rather by a giant spider-like robot built by NASA that can bind the dusty soil into giant bubble structures where astronauts can live, conduct experiments, relax or perhaps even cultivate crops.
We’ve already covered the European Space Agency’s (ESA) work with architecture firm Foster Partners on a proposal for a 3D-printed moonbase, and there are similarities between the two bases—both would be located in Shackleton Crater near the Moon’s south pole, where sunlight (and thus solar energy) is nearly constant due to the Moon’s inclination on the crater’s rim, and both use lunar dust as their basic building material.
However, while the ESA’s building would be constructed almost exactly the same way a house would be 3D-printed on Earth, this latest wheeze—SinterHab—uses NASA technology for something a fair bit more ambitious.
(via Giant NASA spider robots could 3D print lunar base | Ars Technica)
Scientists Develop Robotic Bat Wing to Study Aerodynamics
For some time, engineers have puzzled over how bats could generate so much lift and so little drag, and how they could seem to do it while using less energy than even more specialized flyers like moths or birds.
Wind tunnel experiments offered insight, implicating the leathery skin that stretches between the wing’s four primary fingers. The soft wing material allows the bat to fold the wing and spill air even more effectively than a bird, on a given upstroke. This means that the lift generated in the downstroke, itself augmented by using the fingers to cup the air, won’t be cancelled out when the wing comes back up.
This week, a team of researchers decided to ditch the unreliable little creatures in favor of an automated solution… Brown University scientists built a mechanical wing to precisely mimic the structure and range of motion of the real thing, and to measure the effects of tiny changes in those motions. “We can’t ask a bat to flap at a frequency of eight hertz then raise it to nine hertz so we can see what difference that makes,” Bahlman said. “They don’t really cooperate that way.”
(via Robot bat wing reveals how mammals took flight and beat birds at their own game | ExtremeTech)
Japanese Depression Researchers Use Angry Robots to Stress Rats Out For Science
In order to create a workable model of a human mental disorder like depression, anxiety or schizophrenia, rats are often genetically manipulated or have their nerve system surgically altered. Sometimes they are forced to swim for long periods of time.
Now, researchers at Waseda University in Tokyo have created a new method: Let a robotic rat terrorize the rats into depression.
WR-3, a robotic rat designed to interact with lab rats, bugs the rats until they exhibit signs of depression, signaled by a lack of activity — when rats are depressed, they move around less.
WR-3 is programmed with three different behaviors: “chasing,” “continuous attack” and “interactive attack.” Each one was designed to induce a different level of stress in rats. Chasing stresses the rats out, while the attacks create an environment of pain and fear. In the interactive attack, the rat is only attacked if it moves, while the continuous attack means it’s constantly under fire.
(via How Do You Depress A Rat? Harass It With A Robot | Popular Science)
Japanese Augmented Reality Robot Lets Users Physically Interact With Avatars
U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi is a “virtual assistant” that is actually a green-clad humanoid robot. Users look at her using virtual reality goggles and instead of seeing a mildly creepy, ninja-like blog they see an actual face and body. You can reach out, touch the body, and even shake hands with your robotic pal.
Made by a Japanese company called Different Dimension Inc., the robot uses a program called MMDAgent to interact with users. An initial prototype looked like a ‘tween in footie pajamas and a full-face hood. The newest version consists of half of a body and a much smaller profile. The pre-order price will be about $5,000.
via Gizmag (via This Augmented-Reality Robot Is The Closest Thing You Can Get To A Real-Life Hologram | TechCrunch)
