The latest episode of the Robots Podcast looks at the following scenario: Imagine being able to throw a hand-full of smart matter in a tank full of liquid and then pulling out a ready-to-use wrench once the matter has assembled. This is the vision of this episode's guests Michael Tolley and Jonas Neubert from the Computational Synthesis Laboratory run by Hod Lipson at Cornell University, NY. Tolley and Neubert give an introduction into Programmable Matter and then present their research on stochastic assembly of matter in fluid, including both simulation (see video above) and real-world implementation. Read on or tune in!

You know those little plastic tree-like structures left over when you're done building a model? They're called runners - part of the injection molding process and basically a waste. For most products, the factory recycles runners as the parts are detached, but for models they are left on to make live easier for the builder. Well, some folks over at ummmm....a place in Japan, took a boat-load of these runners and made a 3-meter tall Gundam. Check it out! And the video.

During filming for the Transformers 3 movie, a stunt went terribly wrong and an extra was injured. The accident involved several vehicles with an object going through a windshield hitting the driver resulting in a serious head injury. Filming was taking place in Hammond in northwestern Indiana. Several videos exist of the movie shooting in Chicago on Youtube, along with some funny trailers. Transformers 3 is scheduled for a July 2011 release.

With more biology than robotics, researchers at University of Tokyo harvested eggs from African Clawed Frogs to build inexpensive olfactory sensors. DNA from fruit flies and moths were added to stimulate production of the sensors known to be good at detecting certain molecules, then electrodes were attached to capture the receptor's output. Now for the "Robot" part - results from the sensors are read by software on a PC and a simple actuator was used to cause a robotic mannequin head to shake back and forth adding impact to the experiment. See the PDF for the full scoop.

The term RoboCup usually makes us think of a contest involving robots and soccer, but this one is different. The RoboCup Golf Ball Returner from Fine Tune Golf does just what it says, and fairly well too. RoboCup captures your put (even the bad ones using the Caddy Cord) and sends it back for another shot - over 12,000 times on AA batteries, and around 14 feet. Check out the Video.


Last Refreshed 9/9/2010 3:09:47 PM