Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Bipedal Walking Robot For Unstructured Urban Environments
A bipedal walking robot under development at Bucknell University in conjunction with investigators from the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition has received a boost - $1.2 million in additional funding.
(Bipedal Walking Robot For Unstructured Urban Environments)
The intent is to develop a robot that walks like a man through 'unstructured' urban environments.
'Unstructured' as in totally destroyed when SkyNet takes over? This kind of bipedal robot is the direct ancestor of the walking Terminators, particularly the early versions shown in the first part of the film.
Bucknell researchers are oblivious to the coming robot apocalypse:
Keith Buffinton, professor and department chair of mechanical engineering, who, along with Steven Shooter, professor of mechanical engineering, are lead project researchers, said, “Obviously, we are very excited to receive funding to continue work on this project and to continue our collaboration with the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.”“It would have various purposes,” said Buffinton. “It could be used for surveillance and to gather information in areas you would not want to risk human life. It could be used in mine disasters. In the case of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York, rescuers faced working in extremely dangerous conditions and toxic air. Robots could do more to take the risk from humans.”
In the same vein, readers may want to refresh their knowledge of the PETMAN sweating robot and of course Sweatbot SAM - Sweating Agile Manniquin, keeping in mind this quote from the original Terminator film: "...These [robots] are new. They look human. Sweat, bad breath, everything…."
Read more at Bucknell University and Design of a bipedal walking robot (pdf); thanks to Moira for the tip (a while ago) but I didn't want to write the story until I had seen the movie!
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/2/2009)
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 ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.' - Aldo Giunta, 1957
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said. - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...' - Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
