Slashdot Mirror
Robot Walks on Water
gmletzkojr writes "Yahoo! News has a story about a robot built to walk on water, much like small insects, bugs, and of course, Jesus. The current robot is only a prototype, but more 'useful' robots are already being imagined." This puts into practice what scientists learned just last year.
When it can turn tap water into wine/beer/rum I'll buy one...
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
jesus deathmatch?
Run around on lakes catching mosquitoes. The great thing is, it can be powered by digesting the flies, too!
Follow a few links and you get to here....n o/projects /waterstrider/
http://www.me.cmu.edu/faculty1/sitti/na
Still trying to figure out why this is a useful invention though...
Here, no new info, but a couple of pictures of the dye tests and the robot itself.
I think the most important part of this article and development is the fact that the pure research came up with the knowledge last year, and has quickly produced a working model. I think it's a good show of the need for pure research in all fields of science, but it ain't gonna win a nobel prize.
Since these little things rely on some form of surface tension, will a surfact tension modified such as oil or soap affect them.
Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
This just confirms what I've long suspected. Jesus was a robot.
The BBC link from the previous article clearly shows a robot was successfully made in 2003 -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3126299. stm
Seriously, I wonder if a combination of those two robots would be possible? It would be an ideal combination, what with the ammount of small insects which hover just above most still waters...
IANAS, but AFAIK, lava is an entirely different consistency to water and doesnt have a miniscus (spag?) as such to 'stride' on. Equally, if it's hot enough to melt ROCK, metal doesn't stand much of a chance does it?
Considering the fact that a single fly laying eggs would; if the offspring wasn't to die premature age by spiders and such; would, after a year, have caused such a huge amount of flies that it would equal the mass of this little planet.
:)
A great energy source, all the robots would need to do is to smell like shit, and they'd be done for life
Imagine a lake covered in shitsmelling robots, what a sight!
If you're ever chased by water-walking killer robots from the future, just throw some soap or detergent in the water to mess up the surface tension. They never plan for that! (This might also work for water-walking religous figures, but I wouldn't recommend it.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
just use legs that float?
When I was little I had a capsula ( http://www.discoverthis.com/capsula.html ) set that could walk on water... didn't anyone else?
Oh -- it looks like they're still being made... I guess it's time to find out my Visa's credit limit.
Peter, John, and Jesus are sailing on the Galilee. As the trio near the shore, Jesus hops from the boat and calmly walks across the water to dry ground. He turns to his apostles and calls, "Come!"
Without a moment's hesitation John jumps from the boat and strides confidently to the shore and takes up position next to Jesus. They embrace, turn and both implore Peter, "Come!" Peter cautiously steps out of the boat and after not even a step sinks to the bottom.
John asks, "Master, should we have told him where the rocks are?"
I've never met a bug that wasn't an insect
You've never used Windows then, have you?
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. -- G.B. Shaw
Give a man a hammer, and every problem looks like a nail. Give him a robot, and it's a death match.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
> jesus deathmatch?
Wouldn't work. Guy takes 3 days to respawn...
Bah. My roommate did this three years ago when he was an undergrad at MIT for his senior thesis. He designed and built it himself. You can see it here. Granted, it is entirely mechanical, but dang it's cool. He's got a video of it going across water.
Most recently he built a robotic snail that, in its current incarnation, actually goes completely upside down. Oddly enough, he calls it robosnail.
Did I mention the dude makes his own swords?
Robot back from recycling plant.
Film at Twelve.
The water strider project's home page can be found here.
The CM NanoRobotics home page is here.
Both have pictures of the bot and many others.