Robots are going to do a lot of exploration for us on the moon and other planets for the foreseeable future. This video form NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley shows NASA’s moon rover landing practicing Lunar lander exit.
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This is the Husky Observer: an inspection robot designed for dangerous jobs. It has built-in cameras and front/rear driving lights for navigation in challenging environments. It can be controlled via a web browser. This robot relies pan-tilt-zoom camera, front and rear stereo cameras, or 3D LiDAR to complete its job.
This robot has 10kg payload capacity. It has built-in power, Ethernet, and USB connectors. It has a max speed of 2.3mph. It comes with WiFi and LTE connectivity.
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This is the MAKI Pro 2: a desktop size Android that can keep you company. It has animatronic eyes and can perform microsaccades when it sees faces. It has arms each with 4 joints. It uses them for gesture communication. It has a 7-inch touchscreen display and an embedded PC.
Here is a shape changing mobile robot that can expand and collapse its wheels to adapt to challenging terrains. By using tensegrity as wheels, this robot has better shock absorbing capability. As the researchers show, a robot “with two icosahedron tensegrity wheels can reduce its width from 400 mm to 180 mm and simultaneously increase its height from 75 mm to 95 mm by changing the expanded tensegrity wheels to collapsed disk-like ones.”
This robot can overcome steps with heights up to 110mm and 150mm in expanded and collapsed configuration. This robot can jump obstacles up to 300mm.
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Meet the OTTO 1200: a powerful autonomous mobile robot that can move 1200kg of loads. It has a narrow footprint of 910mm, so it can move in tight spaces. It has a rugged, all-metal body with IP54 rating. It has a max speed of 3.4mph. It can reach 10 to 90% of charge after 30 minutes.
Robot vacuums and mops are getting smarter all the time. The Roomba Combo j9+ is a robot vacuum and mop with Dirt Detective function to clean the dirtiest rooms first. It also has a Clean Base Auto-Fill Dock. It comes with 3 suction levels with automatic carpet boost.
Here is a brainless soft robot that can escape mazes. Developed by researchers at NC State University, this robot doesn’t require a brain to get it done. It is made of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), which can shrink over 50% in response to heat and light. This robot can self turn when encountering a wall. The below video shows it in action:
Here is another STEM toy that you can rely on to learn about coding robots, games, and circuits. The BrainPad Pulse has a 128×64p display that you can use to show texts and sensor data. This kit is MakeCode ready. It comes with an accelerometer, temperature sensor, and buzzer. It has a connector for expansion.
This is the Trailer Valet RVR3: a robotic mover that saves you time and effort moving your trailer. This remote controlled electric mover can handle trailers up to 3500lbs in weight. The RVR3 has heavy duty treads to handle different surfaces. You can control it from any angle with the push of a button.
The RVR3 can move your trailer out of your garage and across the driveway in seconds. It has a brushed aluminum housing. The batteries last up to 30 minutes of continual towing time.
Here is a 6cm long swimmer/crawler robot that uses a wave motion to move around. It uses a single motor for actuation. Since the motor and battery were heavy, floats were needed for this robot. This SAW robot was made by Rotem Katz, Omer Guetta, Dan Shachaf, and David Zarrouk at the Bioinspired and Medical Robotics Lab at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
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