You have to love this commercial. Robby the Robot, Rosie from The Jetsons, WOPR from WarGames and K.I.T.T. all together and preserved here for your amusement. This has to be my new favorite commercial - I think I actually stopped breathing when I first saw it on TV.
With the new amphibious Water Runner robot, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created the first robot of its kind. This robot mimicks the actions of several water-striding lizards and insects in order to allow the Water Runner to actually “walk” on water.
They found that the [lizards] first slaps the water with its web-like foot, strokes downward with an elliptical motion to create an air pocket and then pulls its foot out of the water while curling its toes inward. By repeating this slapping and stroking sequence up to 10 times a second, the lizard generates enough forward thrust and lift to run on water without tipping over or sinking. …
Although it is only a basic prototype, the researchers imagine their amphibious Water Runner robot could be equipped with biochemical sensors that monitor water quality; deployed with cameras for spying, search-and-rescue or exploration; or outfitted with bacteria to break down pollutants.
The article goes on the state that currently the Water Runner is powered by an external power supply, but later versions would contain an independent battery. It would be very interesting to see the little guy in action.
This beast is an “autonomous/RC crawling 6 legged robot with 14 RC servos”. It is currently still under construction but looks incredibly sexy already. The site has a very thorough walkthrough of the process and even includes schematics used in this monstrous undertaking. It looks like the final product will have a head capable of a full range of motion. The site also has several videos of the concept ideas and views of the crawler in progress. This guy is one talented robotic engineer.
What I would have done to be at this event! This video clip shows some footage from several robot faceoffs - kinda like ‘Battle Bots’ for biped robots. The red one has all kind of skills. Watch for the robot body slam (world’s first?) toward the end.
link - Robot-Fan.net [via MAKE]
