Slashdot Mirror
Epson Creates Tiny Flying Robot
xyote writes "As reported by the Inquirer. More info on Epson's website with a nice picture with explanatory labels and all. It weighs a little over 10g, uses an 'ultra-thin ultrasonic' motor and Bluetooth for remote control." Epson is using the robot to showcase their micromechatronics technology, and by exhibiting it, they hope to discover and test problems with using robots in three dimensions.
Nice - now all we need is a handy super miniature X10 cam to attach to it!
Seriously, what other useful projects than a camera could we attach to this little contraption?
"You have been trying to install third party ink cartridges...you will be assimilated..."
MY SECRET DIARIES
Maybe it is because I am currently listening to "They're Everywhere" and am a little paranoid because of it, but that could be used to remotely place bugs or be used for illegal survalience by the FBI or intelligence agencies anywhere, couldn't it?
Save Sam and Max!
...but the replacement wings will cost a fortune.
When at college, I remember "radio bonk" where some enterprising student would sneak into another students room and hide a microphone, broadcasting the nightly "entertainment" over the airwaves for all to hear...
:-)
Sounds like a small radio transmitter and could make the perps. life a lot easier
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
Communicates by bluetooth does it? Who's going to be the first to create an automatic fly swatter to take this thing out when it flys near? Of course I wouldn't build such a device because I personaly welcome our minature flying robot overlords. Sorry, got carried away there.
In the picture at the Epson site, it looks like there are power lines running off of the unit. The description makes no mention of having a battery attached to it. So yeah, maybe you have wireless control, but what's the point when you're tethered anyways?
Can you imagine a Beowulf swarm of these? (/ducks)
Isn't it interesting how you come to recognize posters based solely on their sigs???
Did anyone look at this quickly and think it looks alot like tinkertoys?
You fail it! You must include the whole quote to receive credit for your effort. Tell us how you will get other humans to work for them and tell us which mines we will toil in.
Sigh...no one cares about quality any more...
The linked picture is of a rendering not the actual device. Is this thing vapor ware?
... would come up with the word "micromechantronics".
Micro-mechan-tronics. Like something out of anime.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Yeah, but does it Print?
C'mon, now.... I was promised flying cars.
It's interesting how a company so well-founded in image-related technologies can only manage something that looks like it was cobbled together by a secretary.
The robot is only $100 but replacement ink cartridges for it cost $50 each.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
The Crichton book, about swarms of nanobot robots. Is this our future, or just an interresting possible outcome?
Save Sam and Max!
So when are they going to start selling them to people who want ever more spurious gadgets for their mobile phones?
You can already get toy cars you control from your phone using Bluetooth, I'm sure you could also sell toy helicopters. You can just see people flying these things around the office!
"Information wants to be paid"
The "sensor units" are actually a wireless camera, useful when the unit will be flight tested in the women's shower at the local gym.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
So what kind of payload can these things carry? I bet if they beefed up the drive assembly even only slightly, it could carry enough VX poison to kill a specific target.
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
What the hell? Where did they get a name like that?
"Our use of micromechatronics will help us succeed in our quest", stated project lead Optimus Prime. "We will defeat the decepticons and obtain all minicons", he then went on to say. Megatron was unavailable for comment.
I like the phrase ...causes levitation by use of contra-rotating propellers.... Somehow, helicopters levitating sounds far more dramatic than simply flying. I guess the advantage of these things is that when the power runs out, they can autorotate to the ground. It looks a little like one of those Orgasmatron head massagers though ...
Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
This is obviously a rip-off from Leonardo da Vinci.
That little thing would totally get it's ass kicked on battlebots...
Question everything that you've accepted without thinking.
...I'm going to call him Jet-Jaguar.
As far as I'm concerned, he's got the right-of-way.
If moderation could change anything, it would be illegal.
does this sound like a major smart dust application to anyone else out there?
"Sorry Im not more user-friendly."
Could be using a high-storage capacitor, but most likely I'll agree it's tethered. The specs make mention of power consumption yet never mentioning power source. I think that info is ommitted on purpose.
The article is full of buzzwords (anybody care to explain what is a ultrasonic motor in this context?) and fails to mention the biggest problem with tiny robots: the power source.
I can't find anything that resembles a battery on the schematic. There is a small light blue blob on the bottom of the prototype on the photograph though. But at 3 watts of consumption I don't believe it can fly for very long.
On the other hand, you can see a thin wire going from the prototype, behind the fingers and out of the picture. Perhaps Epson forgot to mention, that their prototype must be wired to a nuclear power plant to provide power for the power-saving bluetooth module...
I hate that my first thought was what destructive use this may be used for (bioterror delivery, etc..)...I suppose all of this media bombardment of Iraq...and given the Bush-era we live in here in the USA....anyway that was my first thought, sadly.
I think Robotics is just such a cool new frontier...I wonder if surveillance in a hospital setting or nursing home might be a possible positive use...
"skate the web"
This thing is far from qualifying as "nano technology". It's small but not nano-small.
A big problem with all of the tiny flying devices is that you really can't use them outside. The problem is the wind. Even an imperceptible breeze can blow these things off course, making them incredibly painful to control. The Piccolo weighs in at about 250 grams or so and it's damn near impossible to control outside.
Plus it sounds like this Epson thing is tethered because there ain't no power source on it.
What was that paper about the CIA developing a dragonfly? It worked but they couldn't use it outside because it was too light.
"Get them my pretties. Get them."
Some other applications:
1.Could we see these deployed with hypoderdmic needles and used in covert operations?
2.How about used as a canary in a mineshaft to test for nerve agents?
Why must the first thing that springs to mind with innovations like this be militartistic?
These aren't nano-anything.
aughalgahgluagu
Using these robots, Epson also realized the world's smallest full-blown robot ballet theater.
Come on, is that really the best demo application they could come up with. How about a battle simulation. Or at least a Cirue de Soleil type thing. This is definetly a move by Epson to erode the geek badge of pride.
I think this brings us one step closer to bio-nano robotics. If people support microrobotics and nanotech, we can have amazing things.
Save Sam and Max!
Da Vinci's design uses a 'screw' type blade. It's nothing like it. You might as well compare it to a propeller beanie while you're at it.
Tinkertoys?
I think it looks surprisingly like Da Vinci's helicopter type drawing:
http://www.emmerling.com/helicopter.jpg
What a brilliant inventor...
http://www.welton.it/davidw/
They are not planning on producing them.. but I bet there are a bunch of them flying around over at HP. (looking in the windows)
I can see an Epson exec saying... 'I wish I was a fly on the wall...'
"If you have done 6 impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways" -- hhgg
...it's all well and good that they can make tiny robots etc etc, but can they PLEASE make a printer that doesn't...
....then i'll be happy for them to make flying pigs for me....
a) print 10 full colour pages and run out of ink
b) flash all sorts of error lights when it feels like it despite there being no problem
c) report paper jams constantly
RIAA recently bought one of these robots for every Kazaa filesharer in existence. Within days millions of 12 year old girls will be found and "dealt with" by these modded beasts.
Nothing disturbs me more than blind loyalism towards some unrealistic and over-idealistic notion of one's nationality.
While you can get high power density in a capacitor, you have to be near your power source because as soon as you disconnect even a very large capacitor, you lose charge quickly. Even a very large capacitor that could be used for a trick electric car would have to be used within minutes of charging to be useful.
One whacky site...
http://www.i-love-epson.co.jp
It weighs a little over 10g...
It doesn't weigh anything in grams... that's its mass. Its weight is in Newtons or pounds.
#define DRM chmod 000
And when the swarms of flying microrobots converge on the last outpost of humanity, their edged weapons gleaming in the dying sunlight, will we at least then think to ask "Is creating flying microrobots really such a good idea?".
You wouldn't be able to see anything but white flags in your spy photos.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Not again !
Wow. That was one of the funniest trolls I've ever seen. MOD PARENT UP!!
Ok, I R'dTFA, and I don't see Bluetooth mentioned anywhere. Care to explain?
Your troll would work better if jpg wasn't titled "penisfish" ...
It's only a matter of time before someone puts a wee little bomb on one of these and kills someone with it. Or at least puts an eye out.
Then it's only a matter of time before someone makes a swarm of them with wee little bombs and turns them loose on a bigger target.
Then it's only a matter of time before someone makes a counterswarm of them.
Then slashdotters will have an unlimited number of slightly charred tiny flying robot parts to experiment with.
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
Welcome our new micronized mechanical...
*SWAT*
Damn bugs.. oh erm.. well.. nevermind...
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
There are two questions i'm sure everyone is asking...
Does it print color and offer Linux support?
You're now falsely accusing links of being penisfish?
Which one is it? Goatse or penisfish?
And I, for one, welcome our new nanobot masters?
Soon power will be free everywhere! Even for tiny, helicopters!
It's probably really fast since an ultrasonic motor should be alot faster than a supersonic motor, and to think we have been complaining about the Concorde..
1. Power: 3.5 V
2. Power consumption: 3 W
Total weight: About 8.9 g
Ok, add the .7 to 2 ounces the battery pack would take and this thing isn't going too far without it s tether. Check out This article for some neat info on lightweight batteries on the horizon.
check out RC Microflight for projects that currently fly under their own (on-board) power.
(Celui que tient la peur de devinir nuage)
Epson Develops World's Smallest Flying Microrobot
-TOKYO, Japan, November 17 -
Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") has developed the FR ("Micro Flying Robot"), the world's smallest*1 flying prototype microrobot. Epson developed the FR to demonstrate the micromechatronics technology that it has cultivated in-house over the years and to explore the possibilities for microrobots and the development of component technology applications. The company will display its latest offering at the 2003 International Robot Exhibition, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight on November 19 - 22, 2003.
Based on its micromechatronics technology, which is one of the company's core technologies, Epson has developed and marketed a family of microrobots known as the EMRoS series*2, beginning with Monsieur, which was put on sale in 1993 and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest microrobot. In April of this year Epson developed Monsieur II-P, a prototype microrobot that operates on an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor and a power-saving Bluetooth module that allows multiple units to be remote-controlled simultaneously. Using these robots, Epson also realized the world's smallest*3 full-blown robot ballet theater. In this way, Epson has played a pioneering role in research and development relating to microrobots and component technology applications.
The FR, which will be shown at the exhibition, causes levitation by use of contra-rotating propellers powered by an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor with the world's highest*4 power-weight ratio and can be balanced in mid-air by means of the world's first*5 stabilizing mechanism using a linear actuator. Furthermore, the essence of micromechatronics has been brought together in high-density mounting technology to minimize the size and weight of the circuitry's control unit.
By developing the FR, Epson has demonstrated the possibility of expanding the activity range of microrobots from two-dimensional space (the ground) to three-dimensional space (the air). Epson intends to use the occasion provided by the exhibition to feel out the reactions of visitors, discover and test problems related to the functional use of space by microrobots, and thus to further concentrate its efforts on advancing its original micromechatronics technology and cultivating applications to meet future needs.
*1,3,4,5: According to Epson's research.
*2: EMRoS stands for Epson Micro Robot System. The series consists of Monsieur (1 cm3 in volume; listed in the Guinness Book of Records; 1993); Nino (0.5 cm3, 1994); Ricordo (1 cm3; equipped with a recording and playback function; 1995); and Rubie (1 cm3; equipped with a capricious wandering function; 1995). All are autonomous travelling robots that chase a light source. Sales of the EMRoS series have been discontinued.
Please see the attachment for an overview of the FR.
About Epson
The Epson Group increases its corporate value through its innovative and creative culture. Dedicated to providing its customers with digital image innovation, its main product lines comprise information-related equipment such as printers and projectors, electronic devices including displays, semiconductors and quartz devices, and precision products such as watches. Epson products are known throughout the world for their superior quality, functionality, compactness and energy efficiency.
The Epson Group is a network of 73,797 employees in 114 companies around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and to the communities in which it is located. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corp., which is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Group had consolidated sales of 1,322 billion yen in fiscal 2002.
Seiko Epson Corp.
Corporate Communications,
+81-266-58-1705 or +81-3-3340-2637
E-mail
http://www.epson.co.jp/e/
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
hat fan... when they get to hot from being out side testing they can clip it to their hat for hours of cooling. woot!
The Epson site says there are no plans to market it. Now that we know it can be done, how long till someone re-creates it and puts up a site showing how to build one?
Technoli
Maybe they won't need much in terms of batteries.
Maybe they can have photocells, and convert the energy they need from natural or artificial light sources. So, at night we could see a bunch of those thingies hitting their heads on street lamps.
Maybe they can fly down for a recharge every once in a while, landing on a bigger robot's back and sucking some electricity.
And maybe, if all else fails, we can leave them energized by a thin wire, hanging from the tip of a long rod. They won't get far, but if you leave the rod close to the water you may be able to fool and electrically stun an obtuse trout, which you will then take home for dinner.
Quem a paca cara compra, paca cara pagará.
Damn. I was hoping to add one to my list for Santa/Thinkgeek
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
For $40 you can get one of these flying saucers. It uses IR instead of Bluetooth, but it's good fun. I bought one this weekend for, ahem, my friend's kids, but I've been testing it... jeff
may be able to fool and electrically stun an obtuse trout
"obtuse trout"? is that what you catch when you go angling?
Any slashdotters out there work for S-E? I'm curious if the corporate culture is more Japanese or American. Just wondering.
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
Dan Brown recently published a book that featured a robot the size of a mosquito with a camera on it... when we've got that, *then* I'll be excited!
--
Vote for your hopes, not for your fears - Vote Third Party
You get a handfull of bored engineers, they make a small, remote controlled flying thing, an upper level manager catches them playing with it so they say "We're working of a project that will showcase all of our micro-technology." PRESS RELEASE!
Maybe I'm going nuts, but this is really cool and I don't like it.
I like to show off and it looks like Epson likes to show off. Who doesn't? And any advance in technology or science is to be respected. Some of this stuff should bring out pure geek joy.
I just can't get the feeling out of my head that this crap belonged in the late 90s. Is our economy doing so well that companies can spare time and talent to show off, to make the share holders and others think they are so cool that they don't have to devote everything to killing their competitors and making their stuff better?
There was a lot of cool stuff produced in the bubble that didn't have any direct profit motive. Any self respecting geek would think this is the greatest thing. A lot of suffering and broken budgets came out of the bubble's excesses, and I'm not sure where the border between cool and hubris is to be found.
Finally, I must say "good going guys, I hope you are around next year."
Depressing, or am I an idiot?
Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
I know micro RC planes often use tiny NiMH batteries. Some of the planes weigh in as light as seven grams, and it's not uncommon for the battery to give at least 10 minutes of flying time.
I skimmed over the article but I didn't see an actual photo so they may not have built this microcopter but the counterrotating blades are not as efficient like insect flight. Flapping wings use vortices for lift and are very efficient.
If anybody remembers the great TLC channel show 'Connections' will connect the dots here and see that SEIKO is a watch company and their microcopter looks a bit like a watch. Interesting. But more of a novelty .
What does this have to do with them making better printers?
This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
But those are fixed-wing planes, not helicopters. Helicopters need a lot more power than planes. In the limit, fixed-wing planes can consume zero power, i.e. they can glide. AFAIK, the smallest powered planes weigh about five grams, and are powered by twisted rubber bands. The wings are made by pouring nitrocellulose enamel over water and letting the solvent evaporate. To glue that skin over the balsa wood frame, you dip the frame in the water under the skin and drag it up *very* carefully.
What did Spock find in the Toilet?
Number one I order you to take a number two!
Since it uses bluetooth can all of the leet haxor kidz use their cell phones and bluejack it?
Slightly OT, but if you remember this story, and my suggestion? Well it looks like Epson has a solution at varous price point (and yes I noted the reply :).
Also if purchasing an Epson printer? Go for the middle of the road, and KEEP IT CLEAN. Ink and paper dust make a nasty mess, and can eventually cause misfeeds. Also make certain nothing has fallen into the paper path.
--
AC who's fixed way too many printers.
HA!
Visit the best Liberal Blog: DU
... because robots in 2 dimensions are so much easier to deal with :)
I seem to recall that it had some sort of immersive technology and that he crashed one and could feel it burning his hands or somesuch when it was destroyed? WOW, been a looooong time since I read that and now that you've mentioned it I remember it well although not the title or character names. Scary!
But also kind of cool - if an immersive headset were built for even a largish kind of flying toy I'd think it would be pretty cool! The micro helicopter review linked\mentioned above made for a good read and is certainly much closer to consumer reality...
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
This is a research robot. It is for *experimenting*. Saying "what's the point" just because it is tethered is just lacking in imagination.
Epson have not created this so they can test out battery technology, but to experiment with the problems of robots that operate in three dimensions. This is about solving the problems of navigation and control, not power supply, that's a job for Duracell.
Not everything has to have an immediate use, commercial or otherwise, to be worthy of existance. To get from here to there, you have to got to all the places in between.
Have we become a population with such a short attention span that we can no longer appreciate the value of long-term research? Far too much research is being scuppered these days because people keep asking "but what's the use of it", and "can we make a profit". Can't we just appreciate it for it's coolness and leave them too it.
Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I think that if this attitude continues to grow, we will ultimatly be screwed by a lack of blue-sky research.
Paul
Paul Leader
As the swarms of flying, self-replicating, microrobots converge on the last outpost of humanity, their edged weapons gleaming in the dying sunlight, will we at least then think to ask "Was creating flying microrobots really such a good idea? And should we really have trusted that they wouldn't figure out how to self-replicate?".
If high RPM is the case, I imagine that the device would generate ultrasonic acoustic waves. Which would be kind of amusing to see all kinds of canine lifeforms go nuts trying to chase these things...
"There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
Here's what you can get in the way of small flying machines today:
Ikarus Piccolo mini rc helicopter
280 grams (.6 lb), about 50cm long (20 in)
Some videos at dreamhobbies.com
Good fun.
After all...
;)
"What is a robot, that thou art mindful of it?"
The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea.
They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall
mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by
small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is
clear: To build and maintain those robots. Thank you.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
It says "ultrasonic motor". Maybe the power source -is- ultrasonics; meaning it is passively powered by ultrasonic waves from a nearby transponder.
Blown far off course, out of bluetooth range... bam! Hits a pedestrian and takes an eye out. Don't believe m? Ask your momma!
I've been thinking about this ever since last years Hacker conference when someone brought in a remote controlled helicopter.
How long until some stupid terrorist straps a stick of dynamite onto the underside of a helicopter, flies it up to the 60th floor office of some fortune 500 company and crashes into the side of the building? If you were to have the explosive go off with a proximity detector it would be all over.
Really really really dirt cheap surface to air missle.
These things scare me.
For the record I'm against this stupid war and oppose violence in all forms. I can just see this happening one day and it freaks me out.
No.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Potential Problems:
1. Robot flying...bzzzzzz..bam...intercepted wall
2. Look a mosquito...bam...bam...bam.
Wonder when I can buy this baby at ThinkGeek?
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
The whole thing weighs 8.9 grams. The payload couldn't possibly be more than a gram or so. I'm not sure how small they can make a working camera, but I do know that even if the entire body of the "aircraft" was made of explosives, it would make a very small "kaboom". A shotgun primer weighs more than 10 grams.
Sean
Just attach a little kite made of tissue paper and a thread to the print head of an Epson FX80 and print the Bible.
Why slashdot? Why not?
My cat would love this thing.
Chip H.
It will be awesome if they can make a fully functional printer out of it. Could you see 4 of these things flying back and forth over your paper spraying ink?
1 It would use lots of ink
2 Print 2 to 5 sheets of paper before a refill
3 Refills cost $25-$30
4 It is pretty watching your tether humming birds print you pages.
5 Profit off of CEOs with way too much money.
Epson has its eyes towards the future here.
... this really reminded me of Sikorsky of the Starjammers from the X-Men comic book.
s ky.jpg
http://www.uncannyxmen.net/images/headshots/sikor
As a side note, can anyone tell my why my link is getting an extra space in the url that I didn't add?
I like to imagine devices like Heinlein's 'Shipstones.' The advances in energy storage pale in relation to almost any other technology related field. i.e., most batteries suck.
While cool, this actually isn't all that amazing, hobbiests have been making micro R/C helicopters for years, and I've seen a few almost that small. Check out EZONE MICRO HELI BOARD for all your micro heli enjoyment. I also have one of these VECTRON FLYING SAUCER Cheap, easy to fly, programmable messages, great for parties! A butload of fun, really!
The smallest airplanes you can buy at the hobby store use a capacitor for power. You charge the capacitor with a battery and get about a minute of flight. Maybe this could use something like that.
Just imagine a gnat sized robot flies up to the president of the united states and injects a poison that will instantly kill him.
There would be very little you could do to protect yourself against this barring being completely protected by netting or some body armor and a mask to cover all exposed skin.
Imagine the awe-inspiring sight of a larger-scale version (say, with the wing-span of half a football field) flying over head... especially if it was armed to the teeth.
Talk about fun!
(This disclaimer is for the sarcasm impaired...)
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.
hey all, just saw this on the morning news here in Japan. Given the time this article was posted probably no one will read my comment, but anyway - to solve the mystery - It was tethered! They demonstrated it that way while saying it should be able to use a battery. The really weird part was that the researcher who was demonstrating it said that it had potential uses for going places people usually can't like going to look at Grandma or the kids out in the yard while Mom is continuing with the housework! My wife and I simultaneously said "Huh? What the ....?"
Otherwise, they only said they would "like to use a wireless technology for control" but the actual flying prototype was controlled via the tether too.
- Jeff -
Ok so Lexmark is using the DCMA to protect it's Ink Cartridges, now Epson is going to use Tiny Flying Robots!? I never thought I'd say this but I think the DCMA isn't that bad :P
-Jason
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
"A TOY ROBOT!"
(dives through glass window)
So can Rotor based craft. They can autorotate.
The Law of Falling Bodies
make one with a small video camera and fly it into the girls locker room etc. Perverts around the world rejoice. or we could finally find out what women do in the toilets when they go in big groups.
-- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
MicroMechaGodzilla!