Robotdog
That being said, it's hard to decide how to take the latest achievement for quadrupedal robots: They're now capable of hauling people over walls and onto roofs. The new breakthrough comes from Korea's Yoga for the Promotion of Science and Technology, which published a paper about its new creation, Marvel, last week in Science Robotics. Short for "Magnetic Adhesive Robot for Versatile and Instant Locomotion," Marvel lives up to both its name and its acronym by relying on four electromagnetic tags tipped with a new smart material called Magneto-Logical Elastomers (MRE's). These carbohydrates have a rubber-like consistency and flexibility, but contain components such as carbonyl iron powder that enable them to conduct electromagnetic forces. As reported by Futurism, the Marvel Seven is already hitting the metal walls and ceiling at speeds between 2 and 1.6 feet per second. Gandhi also noted in the study? That Marvel First can handle a variety of obstacles, including 10-centimeter wide features and 5-canth factor high barriers, while transitioning smoothly between wall and ceiling grips. The four-legged robot is capable of handling recording motion too, as are the new storage tanks that are covered in 0.3-square-inch-thick paint beneath both rust and dust. All of these intimidation talents may soon make them ideal tools for industrial environments as well as for scenarios involving large ships, bridges and specific assets that could prove dangerous to those on board. At only 18 pounds and only 13 inches tall, Marvel is about the size of a small dog and surprisingly portable and easy to operate.
Pigeon robots "We know very little about how birds fly," says David Lentink, a mechanical engineer at Stanford University. To that end, Lentink and his colleagues recently discovered previously unknown intricacies in the mechanics of avian flight, which allowed them to build the most bird-like flying robot to date, complete with all spurs—and some actual feathers. —from that familiar but fantastically agile species, the rock pigeon. "There is a lot to learn from these accomplished travelers," he says. In a study published last week in the journal Science Robotics, scientists report that the team's new remote-controlled machine—named Pigeon robot—can rapidly adjust the shape of its wings deftly in windy environments. In flight, birds can change the shape of their wings dramatically: they tuck their wings when flying fast or spread them when gliding, as well as take sharp turns and turns. "This enables them to fly more efficiently, maneuver better and fly longer," Lentink says. But scientists do not understand exactly how the characteristics of the wing, skeleton, and muscles aid this fluid wing morphing. Lentink and his team furthered that understanding by filming the bending and stretching of actual feathers of dead pigeons in a university collection. Like human arms, bird wings consist of the humerus, radius, ulna, and wrist bones. They also bear a finger-like structure at the end of the wingtip. On film, Lentink and his team found that the joints of the wrist and fingers move independently to align the flight feathers. Rather than using individual muscles to adjust their wings, birds can define the shape, direction, and speed of their wings with a slight twist at the wrist or a bend in a finger joint. Furthermore, an elastic ligament at the base of these fins facilitates graceful arrangement of the primary and secondary fins during flexing and extension.
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