Here is one of the smartest robotic mowers money can buy. The WORX Landroid Vision Robotic Mower (WR230) comes with app control. It has Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity. It comes with a HDR camera and AI deep learning to identify areas that need to be cut. There is no boundary wire required. This neural network mower can identify mowing zones and obstacles with precision. Its self-leveling deck allows it to adapt to uneven areas.
In the past few years, we have covered plenty of robots and drones that can be used to inspect wind turbines and clean them. This video shows the Elios 3 drone used to inspect wind turbines. It is designed to reduce the need for manual inspections. It can be used to detect defects, internal component failure, and blade delamination.
Perching drones on vertical poles is easier said than done. Researchers have come with a passive wing morphing mechanism for crash-landing on trees and other vertical poles. Its wings are for aerial gliding and perching. It can hold onto various poles larger than 28% of its wingspan. This robot can reorient itself from horizontal to vertical when crashing against a pole.
The Vision Pro generated a lot of buzz upon release. Plenty of apps have been released for it in the past few months. SkyGestures is a handy app that lets you control DJI Tello drones with simple hand gestures. It supports 12 gestures. You simply have to connect your Vision Pro to this drone’s WiFi and launch the app. You will be able to perform complex missions with simple hand movement.
This is the VERO: a vacuum cleaner equipped robot for efficient removal of trash from beaches and parks. It is designed to remove cigarette butts and other litter in areas that are hard to reach for wheeled and tracked robots. Its onboard vacuum cleaner is connected with hoses to its 4 legs. The nozzles are attached to each foot.
The VERO Robot comes with autonomous navigation and AI detection. It simply walks close to detected objects and activates vacuums.
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We have all seen insects find their way back home all the time. Researchers are inspired by those to come up with autonomous navigation for tiny, lightweight robots. This approach allows robots to come back home without too much computing power.
Researchers were inspired by how ants “visually recognize their environment and combine it with counting their steps” in order to get back home.
[Credit: Tom van Dijk, Christophe De Wagter, Guido C.H.E. de Croon, Science Robotics]
The LimX Dynamics P1 is a bipedal robot that can operate in complex environments. It has max speed of 0.5m/s. It has max load capacity of 10kg. This robot has an Intel Core embedded computer, a RGBD camera, and an IMU. It supports Gazebo, MuJoCo, and Isaac Gym simulation. This video shows it go through rigorous testing:
This is the Yahboom MicroROS Robot Car: an ESP32 Python programmable robot that uses a virtual machine for advanced features, such as obstacle avoidance, path planning, and LiDAR navigation. It has a metal chassis with an ORBBEC MS200 TOF module. You have the option to use a Raspberry Pi 5 or Jetson Nano as the desktop master.
Here is an expressive bipedal robotic character with a reinforcement learning-based control architecture that can execute artistic motions. It is remote controlled with a puppeteering interface which allows for expressive performances to be created on the fly. As the researchers explain:
command signals are generated by an animation engine which composes and blends between multiple animation sources.
This robot uses off-the-shelf hardware modules. It has 5 actuators in each leg and 4 in its neck. It has speakers, illuminated eyes and a headlamp. The above video from Disney Research Hub shows it in action.
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Nadia is a cool humanoid robot with a high power-to-weight ratio and long range of motion that can box and do other activities with agility. It is designed for autonomous and semi-autonomous operation. This video shows it playing table tennis:
Nadia has a decent backhand but seems it will take a few more upgrades before it can keep up with the pros.
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