Robotics  

ATRIAS, a robot designed to enter disaster zones, is based on the movement of birds, unlike some of its DARPA robotic cousins. Using a spring-mass system that makes it more agile and less prone to falling down when confronted with uneven terrain, ATRIAS hops and runs effectively.

Robots based on dogs have been a trend for DARPA projects in recent years, but the agency is also looking to other members of the animal kingdom for bioinspiration. ATRIAS is a new two-legged robot based on the biomechanics of birds and is able to step over obstacles and maintain its balance – even when it's being kicked.

Researchers at the Oregon State University (OSU) Dynamic Robotics Laboratory have showcased the latest in the ATRIAS series of robots, in a series of videos. The bird model has enabled the robot to overcome obstacles, a major step in the journey towards running around in the wild. Development of the ATRIAS (Assume the Robot Is a Sphere) line began in 2009.

ATRIAS is a prototype of the next generation of these disaster-response machines. ATRIAS can get off the ground and jog like a human. This ability to maneuver quickly and efficiently is ATRIAS’ primary goal, which shapes its unusual mechanical design.

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Robots don’t typically have such spindly legs, such tiny feet, or big springs attached to their motors. But those springs absorb and recycle energy that would be ordinarily lost with every step. The lightweight shins and thighs reduce shock loads when its legs swing and hit the ground. Like a high-end sports car, all of ATRIAS’ mechanisms are designed and tuned to cooperate with each other and enable maximum performance.

But also like a fast car, ATRIAS is hard to drive. The mathematics commonly used to control robotic walking just doesn’t work for ATRIAS. This means that researchers at the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Hartmut Geyer's laboratory at Carnegie Mellon, have been constantly inventing their own controllers to make ATRIAS go. Their goal: make ATRIAS walk, maneuver over obstacles, and run.

"When this robot gets up to speed for walking...it will be the fastest bipedal robot in the world."

According to the OSU project documentation, the ATRIAS series is “designed to test and demonstrate theoretical concepts for efficient and agile locomotion,” with the ultimate goal of “walking and running outside in rough terrain.” Researchers hope to accomplish this through the use of the “spring-mass” model of movement, which can allow robots to “both walk and run with remarkable energy economy.”

“When this robot gets up to speed for walking...it will be the fastest bipedal robot in the world,” Jonathan Hurst, an associate professor at the OSU College of Engineering, told reporters.

The legs on ATRIAS are made of lightweight carbon-fiber, mounted to elastic fiberglass springs that act both as a suspension and a means of mechanical energy storage, allowing the robot to run around on relatively low battery power.

There are two other ATRIAS robot operations in the US – at the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University – but the OSU robot has captured all the media attention, partly because it has its own Twitter account.

My computerized twin's speeding up. BTW Anyone else get an uncanny valley vibe from these sims? #Unsettling #Robotics http://t.co/qiMbxCxHxV
— ATRIAS (@ATRIASrobot) March 17, 2015

A video of the robot surviving a barrage of dodgeballs was accompanied with a tweet: “The humans are just amusing themselves now. Not my favorite hobby, to be honest.”

Also, a test saw ATRIAS keep its balance while getting kicked. “Now I’m being kicked. Humans: Time to spread robot abuse awareness.”

According to the OSU robotics team, ATRIAS will appear for a live outdoor demonstration at the DARPA Robotics Challenge, scheduled for June 5-6 in Pomona, California.

SOURCE  OSU

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 Nanomaterials  

Structural nanomaterials have been developed by researchers using 3D laser lithography to create lightweight, high-strength material inspired by the the structure of bones, wood and bees' honeycombs.

Researchers have developed new bio-inspired lightweight microstructured materials with very high stability. Although the density of these materials is below that of water, their stability relative to their weight exceeds that of massive materials, such as high-performance steel or aluminum.

Natural lightweight materials, such as bone, are cellular solids with optimized architecture. They are structured hierarchically and actually consist of nanometer-size building blocks, providing a benefit from mechanical size effects.

"The novel lightweight construction materials resemble the framework structure of a half-timbered house with horizontal, vertical, and diagonal struts. Our beams, however, are only 10 µm in size."

The researchers demonstrated that materials with a designed micro-architecture, providing both structural advantages and size-dependent strengthening effects, can be fabricated. Using 3D laser lithography, they produced micro-truss and -shell structures from ceramic–polymer composites that exceed the strength-to-weight ratio of all engineering materials.

The lightweight construction materials are inspired by the framework structure of bones and the shell structure of the bees’ honeycombs. The results have been published in the journal PNAS.

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“The novel lightweight construction materials resemble the framework structure of a half-timbered house with horizontal, vertical, and diagonal struts,” says Jens Bauer, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). “Our beams, however, are only 10 µm in size.” In total, the lightweight construction elements are about 50 µm long, wide, and high.

Microstructured materials are often used for insulation or as shock absorbers. Open-pore materials may be applied as filters in chemical industry.

“Nature also uses open-pore, non-massive structures for carrying loads,” Oliver Kraft, KIT, explains. Examples are wood and bones. At the same density, however, the novel material produced in the laboratory can carry a much higher load. A very high stability was reached by a shell structure similar to the structure of honeycombs. It failed at a pressure of 28 kg/mm2 only and had a density of 810 kg/m3. This exceeds the stability / density ratio of bones, massive steel, or aluminum. The shell structure produced resembles a honeycomb with slightly curved walls to prevent buckling.

To produce the lightweight construction materials, 3D laser lithography was applied. In the procedure laser beams harden the desired microstructure in a photoresist. Then, this structure is coated with a ceramic material by gas deposition. The structures produced were subjected to compression via a die to test their stability.




SOURCE  KIT

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 Robotics  

The creepily-lifelike T8 spiderbot from Robugtix dramatically uses bio-inspiration for it's 3D printed form and mechanics.  The robot is due for release in September.

The T8 is a bio-inspired high resolution 3D printed spider robot from Robugtix certainly creates a dramatic appearance.  The robot uses a total of 26 servo motors.

The robots controls are all processed on-board via a proprietary engine for controlling multi-legged walking robots.

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This means that the user only has to send short and simple commands to the robot (for example, instructing it to walk forward at a desired speed) and the engine will automatically take care of all the details, including inverse kinematics, leg trajectory planning, leg gait coordination, motor control, etc. This makes it quite easy even for absolute beginners to play with advanced robotics.

Commands are sent and received via wireless communication.

You can choose between pre-programming your own sequences or directly controlling the robot in real time with the wireless Robugtix™ Controller.

The T8 is available now for a special pre-order price of $1,350, plus $85 for Robugtix's analog-stick controller.

The T8 system, which is due for release in September comes with:

• -A complete set of high resolution 3D printed parts of the T8
• -T8 microcontroller board pre-loaded with the Bigfoot™ Inverse Kinematics Engine
• -26 Hitec HS-35HD servo motors
• -Fasteners and miscellaneous mechanical parts

SOURCE  Robugtix via Gizmodo

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 Robotics  

In order to build a development platform for their robotic spine research, robotisists at the German DFKI center have created iStruct, a robotic ape for space exploration.

Robotisists at the DFKI (the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence) is working on an "ape-like robotic system," with the aim to provide a suitable exploration platform for space.

This project is partially funded by the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center and led by Daniel Kühn.

A key element of the iStruct design is the development of an electro-mechanical spine that mimics actual mammalian biology.  In the image below, the first concept of an artificial spine is shown. The single elements of the spine are built as modules to allow a serial arrangement of the elements. Wires can run through the center of the spine, just as nerves run through actual spines.  The effectiveness of this biomimicry in the robot ape design is demonstrated by the videos above and below.

Image Source: DFKI GmbH

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An active, artificial spine should, when applied to a mobile robotic system, effectively improve the locomotion and mobility characteristics.

The focus of the work in this project is mainly on the structure of a robot demonstrator and the development of intelligent structures for application in mobile robot systems, with special focus on walking machines.

It is the goal of the project to increase the efficiency of a complex walking robot by the purposeful use of intelligent structures. In order to achieve this goal, rigid or connecting elements are extended to single subsystems. Concerning mobility and sensor information, such subsystems provide an advantage to the overall system in which they are used. For testing and evaluation of the intelligent structures, a robot ape is being developed.

The video below shows the walking pattern of the developed ape-like robotic system. Besides different walking directions (forward, backward, sideways, and diagonally) a smooth transition between the respective directions is achieved.



SOURCE  DFKI GmbH

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