It is no secret that consumer drones leave a whole lot to be desired when it comes to their battery life. Elistair’s tethered drone, Orin 2, is made for more serious jobs. It is a a hexacopter for military, surveillance, and security applications. It can stay in the air for up to 24 hours.
We have seen plenty of robots that can jump, roll, and recover after a fall. Teaching them to jump very high comes with its own unique challenges. This video from Open Dynamic Robot Initiative shows how a quadruped learns to jump as high as possible using Bayesian optimization with unknown constraints (BOC).
Robots are getting better at negotiating rough and unknown environments all the time. This video shows a multi-layered locomotion system for legged robots that allows them to achieve safe foot placement and dynamic stability.
Drones have been used in the past to bring sensors to hazardous and hard to reach environments. This video from Aerial Robotics Lab @ Imperial College London shows an aerial sensor placement method that involves installing sensors like darts. As the researchers explain:
The proposed method is based on mechanical energy storage and an ultralight shape memory alloy trigger. The developed aerial system weighs a total of 650 grams and can execute up to 17 deployments on a single battery change. The system deploys sensors of 30 grams up to 4 meters from a target with an accuracy of ~10 cm.
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In the past few years, we have covered plenty of high capacity drones here. This Quadcopter Drone showcased on Flying Kyxz’s channel is also worth a look. It has 400kg payload capacity. The idea was to use this quadcopter to test the motors that will be used for 2 and 4-seater manned drones.
So you would like to build your own robot tank with Raspberry Pi or Arduino? This SZDoit Robot Tank Chassis has you covered. It has metal parts with shock absorption to last you a while. It comes with 9V motors, 2 tracks, and 10 bearing wheels. It has a speed of about 100RPM.
Meet the Juno Rover: another robot that will one day explore the surface of the Moon or Mars. Juno can move autonomously or be operated remotely. It can locate objects in real-time while overcoming off-road obstacles. Juno has a robotic arm to scout out rock and soil samples.
Here is another educational robot that can teach your kids a thing or two about coding. The UO Albert can keep your children engaged, read books, and play games when combined with your smartphone. It comes with simple coding cards too.
Meet the RB KAIROS+: a robotic platform that integrates with Universal Robots e-Series arms via plug & play. It is ready to take on pick & place, part feeding, and other similar tasks. It has a steel design and can carry up to 250kg. It has 4 high power motor wheels and can move in all directions.
