Robots Termites, Who Work By Coordinating

Inspired by the example of termites, researchers have programmed robots to construct buildings without any central instructions. These robots are of complex shapes without central instructions. According to Eliza Grinnell of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; these robots are of complex shapes work without central instructions.

Justin Werfel the first author of the studies says that all their research was inspired by termites, Werfel is one of a researcher at the Wyss Institute for engineering inspired by biology at Cambridge. He added that they discovered the amazing constructions that those small insects could do from that they have created programs and robots that could act very similar way that of the termites. The termites are working on local information rather than a central organization.

Termites can build structures of several meters without requiring a coordinated strategy. Instead, they use simple instructions provided by their peers and the environment to know where to put the next piece of the mound and finally build a mound adapted to their environment. This use of local information is called stigmergy. Justin Werfel and his colleagues have used it to design algorithms that reflect the behavior of termites, which they then applied to a group of robots building.

Each robot follows only a few simple rules: instructions are the same for any structure built by robots and traffic laws that apply to the specific structure. Equipped with sensors, robots are moving along a grid, lifting and depositing bricks. If they perceive a brick on their way, they carry it to the next free space. “The traffic can only go in one direction between two adjacent sites, which maintain a flow of robots and material movement in the structure," says Justin Werfel. If they did things without order, they would find themselves easily trapped in their building.

Researchers have therefore implemented security controls that allow robots to consider where there are already bricks and where there should be. To determine the rules, researchers start of the final structure. Its analysis to determine the number of rules that robots must follow. Once they are set, robots with the independent control have several advantages. “A robot may break but the rest continue “said the authors.” No critical element exists which can compromise the whole of its failure.".

According to the researchers, it is possible to consider using this type of robots to build structures for human use in a dangerous or difficult situation such as making shelter after an earthquake, underwater or even in another planet. An application in the shorter term could form sandbag dikes for controlling flood concluded by Justin Werfel.

A robot spider that moves on its own thread!

A group of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, has developed a robot spider capable of moving in a vacuum vertically along a solid wire that fabricated from a thermoplastic adhesive. Such robots could be used for extraterrestrial exploration adapting to changing terrain. LiYu Wang, a member of the team, told in detail. The spider robot developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich moves vertically along a solid wire. It manufactures thereof at progressively from thermoplastic adhesive sticks which is heated and stretched. It can carry payloads up to 10.9 kg in its current configuration.

A team of researchers from Bio -Inspired Robotics Laboratory (BIRL) has unveiled this robot spider that produces itself a plastic wire which he uses to travel into space, vertical. In their scientific article published in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, they explain that the interest of this innovation is that it can be used to develop hybrid robots to land and air time capable of carrying payloads. Another advantage of the system is that the robot adapts the thickness of the wire according to the weight it carries.

The technical challenge with which the team had to deal BIRL was to ensure that the robot makes its wire while moving with only physical support of wire itself. It was therefore necessary to develop an autonomous system capable of producing the wire associated with a mechanism for moving and guiding. The robot weighs 185 grams to 18 cm tall, 5 wide and 3 thick. “The mechanical part includes mechanisms extrusion and pultrusion," says LiYu Wang, one of the researchers involved in the project , which is also a member of the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology). The technology uses the thermoplastic glue stick, the same as we use for other jobs.

The adhesive is heated to between 65 and 75 ° C to be extruded through a nozzle into a process similar to the spider secretion produced by the ampullary gland. A second phase: glue spots pultrusion be spun stretching and solidify upon contact with air according to Newton's law of thermodynamics. The robot is operated by two motors. The first serves to urge the glue stick through the heating system and the nozzle on a linear axis via a ball screw system. The second motor mechanism actuates the “deformation - locomotion”, which consists of two wheels of 12 mm diameter which will both stretch the wire while sliding the robot progressively. Everything is powered by two lithium -ion batteries.

In its current configuration, the robot can carry a maximum load of 10.9 kg moving at 12 inches per minute. The robot that spins a web like a spider "The advantage of this technology lies in its flexibility, which allows you to adjust the thickness of the wire so that the robot can adapt to different loads while remaining self-sufficient," says Wang LiYu. He also confirmed that the system could be replicated on larger robots by adapting the configuration of extrusion pultrusion accordingly. The next step for the team is to replace BIRL wheels legs, so that the robot can move on a solid surface, but also to switch over to another, like a spider on its web. The researchers believe that the solution would be to create legs inspired by the gecko with adhesive pads for grip. With this, the robot could then weave a fabric by forming vertical and horizontal on which it may then travel.

A Nanorobot Based Bacteria Is Able To Cure Cancer

Robotics continues to fascinate and impress throughout his innovations. This is again the case with these revolutionary nanorobots designed based bacteria that are put at the service of your health.

This is again the Asian continent comes this robotic innovation should be a scientific and technological advance among the most notable of years. Thus, if the Chinese were able to introduce a nanorobot inside a human body in September 2013, in South Korea these robots bacteria are capable of treating cancer has emerged, in Chonnam National University.

The scientific team behind this scientific discovery announced success in eliminating tumors in animals through the use of robots designed based on bacteria. However, a small precision is needed; these nano robots, also called bacteriabots are composed of genetically modified bacteria and microscopic structures and filled with anti- cancer drug solutions. Thus, studies in laboratory animals have shown that harmless bacteria component of nanorobots have “attacked “the infected cells, targeting priority.

In addition, through immune histo chemistry performed a few days after injection of genetically modified bacteria, the researchers found that the tumors were directly targeted by bacteribots; once it arrived in the vicinity of the tumor cell, these free the anti cancer drug solutions that spread at an impressive rate, neutralizing the tumor quickly.

 Finally, Park Jong- Oh, who participated in these experiments within the team from the University of Chonnam, “This research is important for the development of a new biomedical nanorobot and a vector for administration of active drugs that can overcome the limitations of current methods of diagnosis and treatment of cancers.

Our goal is to develop medical micro-robots or nanorobots capable of diagnosing and treating a large number of difficult to cure diseases, building on the convergence of medicine and technology. This is a really encouraging scientific breakthrough for the health! At the office, the team is appreciative of the progress offered nanorobotics and we look forward to these microscopic robots come to the end of cancer.

NASA unveils the first robot Super Ball Bot for landing on Titan, a moon of Saturn

NASA multiplies space exploration and it has unveiled a new kind of robot that will be able to lie on the floor of Titan, Saturn's moon, thanks to its particularly amazing abilities. Super Ball Bot is the new prototype rover designed by NASA. Whose main purpose will be to successfully land on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Indeed, the agency is not limited only to missions lunar and Martian exploration but also wants to gather data about other stellar objects in our solar system.

In this case, the observation of Titan is interesting since the satellite has many features common to Earth, even if it is more akin to a primitive version of our planet. One of the main similarities is the climate on the surface of Titan; since the winds are present and form dunes, hills and cliffs. Quite surprising it that also has seasonal changes as such of Earth. Super Ball Bot represents the first fruits of this exploration mission. And he also has very special characteristics: it is completely designed with only limps.

As we can see from the picture above, the rover is able to move in a rather strange way since it gives the impression of sagging then recover while going forward. Super Ball Bot actually works on the principle of tensegrity. Tensegrity is an architectural principle in which the ability of a structure to stabilize the forces of tension and compression distributed therein and will be balanced.

Structures established by the tensegrity are stabilized, not by the strength of their individual components, but the distribution and balance of mechanical stresses in the entire structure. Main advantage is its less weight while Curiosity weighs nearly a ton (900kg), this robot will be much lighter and easier landing on Titan. However there are still some challenges to control its management and its movements.

NASA explained that if this prototype was validated, it could then launch an exploratory mission and release large number of these robots explorers on the surface of Titan. In any case, it is exciting to see that the U.S. space agency is exploring many opportunities to learn about our solar system. We have to wait for the mission success and to learn more about Titan.