biomimicry | TechieTonics

Quest To Design Jellyfish Robot: Propulsion Movement Under Research

February 21, 2014 Neha Shukla

Animals have always inspired our scientists, whether it is in the field of medicine or robotics. Robots based on animal movement are not a new concept because animals perform activities more efficiently and proficiently, that are not yet achievable in our robots. In another animal inspired, jellyfish robot, researchers studied different animals from small creatures like moth to the largest like humpback whales, to understand how animals moved through water or air, with minimal transport cost. They discovered that the secret about their movement lies in the way these animals…

Robots Capitalizing On The Efficiency Of Nature: Biomimicry

February 11, 2014February 21, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Tentacles of biomimicry have entered into the technology realm as well and hence we are witnessing robots derived from the workings of mother nature. Researchers are working towards developing designs that might bestow the animal capabilities to machines. Cats Inspired E-Whiskers Electronic whiskers are one such offshoot created by the researchers at the Berkeley Lab. They fabricated this design using carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles. With this it seems after eclipsing the Silicon, the CNTs would now make its presence felt among robotics as well. These artificial whiskers are made…

Rise Of The Lizard Bots: Gecko Robot Might Go For Spacewalk Soon

January 3, 2014March 27, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

What would be the field of robotics without biomimicry, I guess, nothing. After Cheetah bot and the Big Dog, researchers have come up with lizard-bot, to which they call gecko robot. Fabricated by a research team in Canada, the gecko robot can easily cross through a vertical surface. This mechanism (of sticking) is brought about by means of dry microscopic toe hair called the setae. Christened as Abigaille, the bot weighs around 240 gram. The six-legged climbing bot project is indeed inspired from the way lizards glue and walk effortlessly…

Meet Valkyrie, Johnson Space Center’s New Super Hero

December 12, 2013June 12, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in association with the University of Texas and Texas A&M and with funding from the state of Texas itself have built a humanoid to which they call, Valkyrie, officially designated as “R5”. The bot is 6.2 feet tall, weighs around 125 kgs with 44 degree of freedom and is powered by battery. The machine is not built for any space mission or otherwise but for the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC), that’ll hold its first round of competition in the second half of this month.

Biomimicry: Gimball Robot Inspired From Insects

October 31, 2013May 9, 2014 Neha Shukla

Gimball robot is a recent advancement in flying robots, which can maintain its due course even after crashing into any obstruction. Conventionally, robots find it difficult to maintain the line of course after any bump and after hitting, tend to go in arbitrary directions. The Gimball robot designed by EPFL PhD student Adrien Briod and his colleague Przemyslaw Mariusz Kornatowski, is a sensor free robot and is based on gyroscopic stabilization system to maintains its sense of direction. The robot consists of double carbon flexible spherical enclosure of 34cm in…

Robo Raven, Bird That Relies On Solar Energy

October 16, 2013March 27, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

After the humanoid robots, we would now we witnessing the robotic bird. This robo raven is very much similar to the real birds in the sense that it can control its wing motion due to which it is able to perform similar aerobatics like back flips and dives. Phenomena that was not possible with the mechanical birds before. Precision of the machine is so accurate that birds in the area could be seen diving and attacking from above with their talons. Other birds including seagulls could be seen lining up…