 |
Hamster Controls iRobot Create Vehicle
A hamster in a ball controls an iRobot Create; the Create is a hobbyist robot based on the Roomba platform. Take a look at the hamster ball robotic vehicle video:
(Hamster-controlled iRobot Create vehicle video)
The hamster controls the movement of the Create robotic vehicle by running in whichever direction he wants. The ball is loose on three rollers; an optical sensor measures the direction of the hamster ball and how fast it is moving. The microprocessor that controls the movement of the Create robot then moves the wheels according to the motion of the hamster ball.
I'm fascinated by the idea of animals (or aliens) being given robotic vehicles to help them explore. Readers may recall Garnet Hertz's cockroach-controlled mobile robot.
(Garnet Hertz's cockroach-controlled mobile robot)
I also liked the Terranaut fish explore land robotic vehicle, an art project that allows a Blood Parrot fish to go gallivanting across the countryside.
(Terranaut II by Seth Weiner)
As far as science-fictional predecessors are concerned, sf readers may recall the Martian perambulators used in Robert Heinlein's 1951 novel Between Planets to help Martians get around on Earth.
At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels. Don had never seen one but he recognized its function; it was a Martian's "perambulator," a portable air-conditioning unit to provide the rare, cold air necessary to a Martian aborigine. The occupant could be seen dimly, his frail body supported by a metal articulated servo framework to assist him in coping with the robust gravity of the third planet.
Gamers may recall the Orz from Star Control 2; this race of aliens used an anthropomorphic exoskeleton to get around in when on land (thanks, Yossi).
Orz space marine in combat gear)
I can think of another example, but I can't find it on my site. Ocean-going aliens are helped by human beings with vehicles that help them get about and also help them to think and build things. Readers?
**Aha! Take a look at the skrodes from Vernor Vinge's 1992 novel A Fire Upon the Deep.**
From MAKE.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/5/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Vehicle ")
Jaguar I-Pace Audible Vehicle Alert System For EVs
'Of course not a vehicle moved by means of internal explosions of a derivative of rock oil...' - Robert Heinlein, 1985.
IONITY Opens First 10 Fast-Charging Stations
'Recharge the batteries... in almost every town and village...'- John Jacob Astor IV, 1894.
Sion Electric Car Covered With Solar Panels
'It drew its power from six square yards of sunpower screens on its low curved roof.' - Robert Heinlein, 1940.
PAL-V Liberty Flying Helicopter Car
'...lifted themselves to skimming flight upon whirling helicopters." - Jack Williamson, 1931.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Jaguar I-Pace Audible Vehicle Alert System For EVs
'Of course not a vehicle moved by means of internal explosions of a derivative of rock oil...'
Autonomous 'Fiberbots' Weave Large Structures
'It extrudes material like a spider.'
Birds Aren't Real - Wake Up, California! (With Bird Watching Guide)
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Self-Healing Material Pulls Carbon Out Of The Air
'... could seal the punctures.'
IRL Glasses Block Screens, Limit Vision To Real Life
'If you couldn't see the ads, how would you know what was fashionable?'
Testing The Single-Person Spacecraft
'...the lower part of the suit was simply a rigid cylinder.'
Shapeshifting Materials Transform By Light
'Its lines wavered, flowed, and then painfully reformed.'
Fully Automated Farm Iron Ox Hydroponics
'Had these machines in some incredible fashion been provided with brains?'
BrainNet Social Network Of Brains
'I used my implant to tell MILLIE what we wanted and she took care of it'
Phil Nuyttnn's City Under The Sea
'Under the lower roof there was no water, but a clear and luminous atmosphere...'
IONITY Opens First 10 Fast-Charging Stations
'Recharge the batteries... in almost every town and village...'
Superstrong Multilayer Metal-Graphene Composite Material
Negligible increase in weight increased material strength by hundreds of times.
Deepfakes Imperil Democracy (George Orwell, Right Again)
'All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.'
String Art Courtesy Of Robot Artist
The number of different ways to span a thread between a larger number of hooks is astronomical.
Still Wondering If You'd Work For A Robot Boss?
'This is all coming to you courtesy of the simstim unit wired into your deck, of course.'
World's First Autonomous Tram In Germany
What's it like for autonomous trams when they're turned off at night?
