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Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot
fraxinus-tree writes "Epson has developed a very small (8.6g w/o battery) flying device, something like a bluetooth-controled palm-top helicopter." Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.
Was anyone else hoping it would look more like a bee or a dragonfly?
Recipes for geeks -- no meatloaf, we promise.
12g - 8.6g = 3.4g battery. Can carry a spare and a half and fly for a few more minutes.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Obviously this will be used by terrorists. This kind of device should be banned.
The street drug trade finally gets a technology boost.
This sig is o Unfunny o Funny
After watching the video the first time I decided to watch it again and pay closer attention to the attendant's eyes.
It's almost as if she wasn't seeing the item flying in front of her. I felt like I was watching a poorly done movie + animated character sequence.
I don't doubt this item exists but I do have serious doubts about the origin of the video provided.
You could deliver drugs and take payment with it.
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") today announced that it has successfully developed a lighter and more advanced successor to the FR, the world's smallest and lightest micro-flying robot. Turning once again to its micromechatronics technology, Epson has redefined the state of the art with its FR-II micro-flying robot--the world's new lightest and most advanced microrobot, which also features Bluetooth wireless control and independent flight*2. The FR-II will be on display at the Emerging Technology Fair, part of the Future Creation Fair that runs from August 27 to 30 at the Tokyo International Forum.
Epson has long been engaged in the research and development of microrobots and in the development of applications for their enabling technologies. The FR-II is only the latest chapter in an Epson success story that began with Monsieur, a microrobot that was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest microrobot and was put on sale in 1993. Having made micromechatronics one of its core technologies, the company has since created and marketed several more microrobots in the EMRoS series*3. April 2003 saw the introduction of the Monsieur II-P, a prototype microrobot that operates on the world's thinnest microactuator (an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor)*4 and is remote-controllable via a power-saving Bluetooth module. The following November, Epson unveiled the prototype micro-flying robot FR, which featured two ultra-thin, ultrasonic motors driving two contra-rotating propellers for levitation, plus the world's first*5 linear actuator stabilizing mechanism for attitude control during flight.
However, the FR prototype microrobot's flying range was limited by the length of the power cord attaching it to an external battery, and although it was radio-controlled, it had to be kept within sight of the operator while flying. Consequently, Epson decided that the next step was to extend the flying range by developing fully wireless operation paired with independent flight capability. The main issue to be tackled with regard to wireless flight was the need to combine lighter weight with greater dynamic lift. Epson made the robot lighter by developing a new gyro-sensor that is a mere one-fifth the weight of its predecessor, making it the world's smallest and lightest*6 gyro-sensor. Also helping to shed weight is the high-density mounting technology used to package the microrobot's two microcontrollers including the Epson-original S1C33-family 32-bit RISC. Dynamic lift was boosted 30% by introducing more powerful ultra-thin ultrasonic motors and newly designed, optimally shaped main rotors. As for the challenge of independent flight, Epson brought its many years of micromechatronics experience to bear in realizing the development of a linear actuator with faster response time and a high-precision attitude control mechanism, and a flight path control and independent flight system (primarily for hovering).
To top it off, Epson added an image sensor unit that can capture and transmit aerial images via a Bluetooth wireless connection to a monitor on land, and they also devised two LED lamps that can be controlled as a means of signaling. Epson was assisted by Chiba University's Nonami (Control and Robotics) Laboratory in developing the control system for independent flight. The company also received advice on the rotor design from the Kawachi (Aeronautics and Astronautics) Laboratory at the University of Tokyo.
The key concept behind Epson's R&D efforts in micro-flying robots has been to expand the horizons of microrobot activities from two-dimensional space to three-dimensional space. Now, with the successful implementation of Bluetooth communications and independent flight in the FR-II, Epson has literally added a new dimension to microrobotics while greatly expanding the potential range of microrobot applications by incorporating image capture and transmission functions. At the Emerging Technology Fair, the FR-II micro-flying robot's features are expected to be showcased in artistic aeria
(blah! I hate when perssing "return" posts the story automatically)
This story was posted quite a while ago here.
It's still a cool little gizmo, though. I'd love one for Christmas!
Need E-mail virus targets new flying robots. Microsoft was brought down today by this new denial of service attack. Microsoft employees were quoted as saying "Those propellers really sting!"
I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't want smaller robots. I want bigger robots. It would take, like, 300,000 of these guys to form Voltron. It's fair to say that the coolness factor of any given robot can be measured by the number of them which would be required to form Voltron. And, as you can imagine, I'll form the head.
adam b.
I swear that little think looks like one of DiVinci's sketches of a human powered machine. Compare
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
ANON 2004 writes:
.. very easy manipulation can take place in front of a blue screen.
.. then it jumps frames again and you sort of see it flying around but moving in a wierd pattern with the assistant sort of looking directly at it but maybe looking over it, Jar Jar Binks style in Star Wars I ...
Did anyone wonder a couple of things about the video like I did?
1 - Blue screen background
2 - The video was not contiguous, rather it was choppy - first you see the little helicopter, then it jumps frames to the helicopter in the hand of the assistant with the propellors moving
3 - Why was the video 40 seconds if the thing can fly for three minutes?
4 - Why was the helicopter flying facing the camera and sort of tilting left and right?
Sorry, it looks completely fake to me.
Perverts around the world are waiting for the model with a camera.
Click here for a free picture of an iPod!
The Pixelito http://pixelito.reference.be/ is a far lighter RC helicopter. It weighs in at only 6.9 grams *with* battery. Check out the page for as size comparison with a hamster.
The future doesn't have to be like the past -- http://www.si
They could use it to deliver grams of weed in Amsterdamn's cafes. That's a gimmick!
Trolling is a art,
at 6.9g With battery!
http://pixelito.reference.be/
Nuke Gay Whales for Jesus.
Gotta work with Firefox guys. Firefox is the one true pure test.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Epson added an image sensor unit that can capture and transmit aerial images via a Bluetooth wireless connection to a monitor on land
Perfect for doing recon missions in the office!
- Coffee in the coffee pot? Check.
- Did the boss leave early? Check.
- Is the coast clear to sneak out early? Check.
Left 4 Dead Gaming Group - http://www.l4dgg.com
This can fly for 3 minutes and can return video images.
Consider flying this (covertly) into a hostage situation, then shutting down the motor - how long could it return video then?
Or corporate espionage - fly this between the drop ceiling and the real ceiling, land over the boardroom.
Oh hell yes, I can see a lot of uses right now for this.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Here's an in-flight picture, and another angle here.
Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
but what is that weight in fraction of a volkswagen?
Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors. A simple gust of wind would carry this thing WAY off course. It looks like it has a hard enough time dealing with normal air currents sans wind.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
I never have mod points when I need em. Alexander Van de Rostyne pretty much single handedly created the micro r/c heli phenomenon. Really kicked off a whole new wave of ultra light/small electronics.
Check out the forums here for more info on all things R/C.
http://www.ezonemag.com
In the Globe and Mail version of the story, they say:
In Wednesday's demonstration at the company's Tokyo office, the Micro Flying Robot barely managed to get off the ground by a couple of metres and crashed off a table at one point.
The Globe article does have a picture of it hovering in front of some guy's face, however!
Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
This is not a fake. I have been following this mans progress since he invented the Pixel micro heli like 6-7 years ago. I myself have several micro heli's and have seen many even smaller projects!
Check your facts!
Go read the micro-heli forums at www.ezonemag.com instead of spouting unsubstantiated claims.
Lemme guess you think the moon landing was a fake and the earth is flat?
Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.
Neighborhood weed delivery.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Building flying robots destroys all your html skills. I mean look at this page and the one in the original article.
There is no good and bad. There is only cause and effect.
Could a solar panel be light enough and still deliver enough juice?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Did a little research, methinks the power-weight ration of solar is crappier than anything around.
Even with this thin-film solar cell, this little fella would need 133in^2 of surface area, and the solar cells alone would weigh 21.6g.
Too bad, but it'd still be cool to make an RC plane/predator/mini-uav/whatnot with the RC Aircraft series.
I can think of one very effective purpose for these little buggers....anti-personnel.
How about rigging it with a half-ounce of magnesuim shrapnel-encased C-4 and replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor? Set 1000 loose on a bunch of terrorists holding up in a holy-site like say, oh I don't know, a mosque in Iraq?
It would take very little networking between the craft to make sure they all picked independent targets. It would take even less to provide "do not kill" RFID tags to those in a room you want to spare. The code would be simple.
No more special forces or SWAT teams are required to take out the bad guy hiding in a building. Simply run in a swarm of these through a window and set them to kill mode.
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
Here's a link for you people who read boring books when you were kids:
http://www.norder.com/nostalgia/Danny-Dunn-Invisib le-Boy.html
jim frost
jimf@frostbytes.com
Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors.
Lots of politics is indoors nowadays and not just in back rooms.
Loaded with 3.5 grams of C4 this could be flown across a convention hall at a target on stage. Not much power, but at point-blank range probably enough.
I'd be surprised if you couldn't make one that could fold down into a cell-phone case and be expanded past the security checks. Alot easier than getting a rifle inside.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Just gotta make sure the terrorists are not equipped with fly swatters or newspapers.
If it can fly autonomously (not possible yet if you have to add more equipment like balance or barometric sensors and blow the thing's payload - but you can put the brainpower in the base station), it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. It could fly point to point in a warehouse on a security patrol, recharging at stops along the way. Automated inspections (attics, structual beams in large buildings, etc) could be done in detail with less strain on a manual pilot - you building inspector just watches the monitor and doesn't bother trying to fly the thing.
The big thing, of course, is adapting this technology to be used outside. Think of a swarm of these released from roadside base stations to check freeway bridges, dams, or structures, minutes after an earthquake. Or a version that works in fluid (really, a submarine) checking ship hulls for damage - on infestations of foreign organisms like zebra mussels - as they steam into port.
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
it would be perfect for delivering, say, five grams of crack from, say, microsoft marketing to, say, microsoft engineering.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
you could actually see a guy above the "flying" helicopter pulling the thing up with a tiny fishing rope!
I want one of these on IR trigger in every room of my house, ready to fly into the air when a burglar enters the room and fire a poison treefog dart right between their eyes.
If I attach ten thousand or so to a lawn chair, and fly into space twice, then maybe win the $10M X-Prize!