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OmniTread: A serpentine robot
karvind writes "Physorg is running a story about OmniTread: a serpentine robot designed to traverse extremely difficult terrain, such as the rubble of a collapsed building. The 26-pound robot is developed at the University of Michigan U-M College of Engineering. It moves by rolling, log-style, or by lifting its head or tail, inchworm-like, and muscling itself forward. Link to videos. Check out there other robots as well."
I imagine that with more development, this could lead to subways/trains without tracks. Or, perhaps "smart" cars that "know" how to handle obstacles and avoid collisions.
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
From a comment posted below the article: "Arthur C. Clarke had it right --- spheres with tentacles; _that_ is the ultimate in agility and mobility, for robotic design. Plus, such units can easily link together to form a much greater whole, if required --- they could perform nearly *any* engineering, construction, or transportation task."
Badgerbadgerbadger... (C'mon -- *someone* had to say it...)
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
Their other robots are there. They're amazing.
...but I'm sure we will soon. Everyone should check out this rad 7min video of this thing in action. Very cool. =)
"Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
I have always wondered why robotics engineering has not taken more approaches using memory-shape alloys. Mondo-tronics has a product called Muscle Wire that has carbon or graphite embedded in the alloy so that it heats up when an electric current is applied. This causes the Nitinol to contract as the alloy returns to its "memory" shape.
Really the only thing I have seen using this form of memory-shape alloys is just for hobbyist projects, nothing serious. Granted there are some problems to overcome, such as duty cycles and heat dissipation. But most of these could be solved, I have looked into them. On larger scale projects the cost could be prohibitive though.
The value as I see memory-shape alloys over motors, is that it is almost a solid-state actuator. There really is no moving parts that can wear, other than the alloy itself. And these memory-shape alloys have a very high force/weight ratio - thus making the bulk of most robotics not a function of locomotion.
It is obviously made of 5 (reasonably) identical parts, but I wonder if you can (in theory) make a robot of this type as longs as you want just by `tacking' on a new section (of course this ignores drive train problems).
It actually wouldn't be too hard to give each section its own motor and power supply. The connection between each section would include an umbilical capable of transmitting data, and perhaps even extra voltage if one of the power units (batteries) was not providing sufficient power. At that point, operation of the robot becomes a software issue; how do you program each pod with identical software that can all work together as a cohesive whole, in real time? If all of the individual components are identical but work flawlessly together, at almost any length, then theoretically the robot could add more sections or shed damaged ones without compromising functionality. Specialized sections could also be attached to the front and/or rear, for digging, drilling, collecting, clearing, bomb dismantling, carrying, or anything else you can think of.
I noticed in the video that the crew was using a remote to control the robot. (I also noticed the distinct lack of any purposeful log-rolling, contrary to what the editor said--but I digress.) Ideally, of course, such remote operation would not be needed. Crews using the robots--rescue teams, bomb squads, recovery missions--should be able to just tell the robot, "hey, go explore over there. We'll be watching on the monitors, and you tell us if you find anything." The locomotion of the robot would then be completely automated, based on a set of instructions (one of a library of scripts, maybe; use the "find and bring out bomb" script, or the "search for human survivors" script), with the operator just gathering data, and perhaps taking manual control if needed.
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what does your robot do, sam
it collects data about the surrounding environment, then discards it and drives into walls
-Dracken
It is efficient in several ways:
- Eliminates complicated gearing
- Every part that can come in contact with a surface has full torque
And when you are tethered to a cable anyways, and not run on battery power, you probably don't have to worry as much about efficiency.
you can program it in python?
This is more like a caterpillar than a snake. It uses tracks all over its body (like many small feet), rather than a serpentine motion to propel itself. Props though, as this seems far more practical than robots that actually try to move like snakes or inchworms.
I've sat through many talks about modular robots that are supposed to be able to do everything, yet rarely do anything well at all (I come from a lab doing what I guess you'd call "specialized monolithic" robots). I think this robot is just specialized enough to be useful (using its treads). The walking snake like robots are normally agonizingly slow, but this robot moves at a reasonable speed for the type of applications you'd need it for. Also, tracks should scale up in speed reasonably well if needed.
Also, does it know which way is up and readjust or do you have to figure that out after it rolls?
That's exactly the kind of thing they want to use this type of robot for. They focus on rubble and similar terrain, because if it isn't hard to traverse, you might as well use wheels. Exploring mines and caves could be useful too, but urban search and rescue is a big topic now. After a disaster, you want to rescue people as fast as possible to save them, but the earlier after a collapse, the more dangerous it is for the rescuers who risk getting trapped themselves. Robots can be sent in immediately becuase you don't care much if you lose them.
Snakebots are very fragile. Many times a section would break after a few hours demostration. Jer was working on making each section more modular and easier to build. Apparently the main goal of snakebots for many research labs are for providing demostrations (read: grantbots) and giving new grad students something to do. ;-)
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.
- Jerome Klapka Jerome
The "bunch of wires" is probably because it's still a prototype. The finished product will be radiocontrolled, obviously (or at least I hope so).
Indeed, if you watch carefully, the "bunch of wires" would make the robot useless in real conditions: the wires would get tangled into the debris, and hold the contraption back, even though the robot by itself could cope. Many times in the video, you'll see the handlers rearranging that cable to make sure it doesn't get tangled anywhere.