It was only a few weeks ago that we covered the Walker S Lite from UBTECH. It is a lightweight smart humanoid robot that can coordinate with autonomous ground vehicles. The latest video from UBTECH shows it inspection a car assembly in FAW-Volkswagen Qingdao Branch. It is capable of car parts and core module detection.
Robot dogs can be used to carry a wide variety of items. Getting them to work together to carry heavier loads is easier said than done. PACC explores the idea of using a passive arm to get two robot dogs to carry heavy payloads. As the researchers explain, this mechanical robot arm has its joint displacements to guide the robots’ motion. It uses a “Model Predictive Controller that incorporates an approximation of the arm dynamics and the estimation of the external forces from the collaborative carrying.”
Toroidal tanks have various benefits over regular tanks. They have 40% more volume in comparison to spherical tanks. There is room in the middle for other things. They are not easy to make. Machina Labs is using robots to make toroidal tanks for NASA. For now, the robots are doing the shaping while humans weld the pieces together.
This entire process can be automated. These robots work in pairs to shape sheet metal. These robots were trained to do this job with physics-based simulations.
[HT] [official site]
Meet PiPER from AgileX: a next generation lightweight robotic arm with 6 joint motors for smooth performance. It can handle 3.3lbs of load. It has 626mm reach and 0.1mm repeatability. It can operate in temperatures from -20 to 50C.
PiPER can be controlled with Python. It supports ROS1 and ROS2. As you can see in the above video, this robot can handle a camera, tennis racquet, and everything in between. It weighs only 9.25 lbs.
Robotic lawn mower are getting smarter all the time. The latest models can be set up without a boundary wire. Take the ANTHBOT Genie for instance: it is a new model with a plug & play design. It has a fully automatic planner and 3D AI vision + RTK navigation. The ANTHBOT Genie can identify boundaries and avoid obstacles. You can use its app to create separate lawn areas.
This is the AstroAnt: a miniaturized swarm robot that can sit on a lunar rover to collect data about surface temperatures and damage from micrometeoroids. It ensures this rover performs as it should during missions. The below video shows this micro robot in action:
[HT: MIT]
This is the Easys: an open source underwater robot that anyone can make. It has an acrylic tube to hold the thrusters for movement and a battery box. The lid attached to the tube is 3D printed as is the outer frame. This robot weighs only 4kg, so you can easily move it anywhere. According to the makers, it takes about $1000 to build this.
This is the HIWONDER SpiderPi Pro: a Raspberry Pi 5 powered hexapod robot with AI vision that supports Python programming. It has a 5DOF robot arm that it uses to pick up and move objects. It also has a wide-angle HD camera on its head.
This is the Rufus V1: a roofing robot that nails shingles on a new roof automatically. It uses cables attached to the anchors to move around on your roof. It can work on slopes up to 12/12. This new system has a more modular design, so you can change the end effector. The below videos shows this robot in action:
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This is the Picotaur: a micro legged robot that can turn, push loads and climb mini stairs. Researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University are behind this clever design. This robot has legs that are driven by multiple actuators. It has multiple gait patterns and can hop to overcome obstacles.
