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Robotic Penguins
Corporate Troll writes "Robotic penguins were unveiled by German engineering firm Festo this week. Using their flippers, the mechanical penguins (video) can paddle through water just like real ones, while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air. The penguins are on show at the Hannover Messe Trade Exhibition in Germany.
Each penguin carries 3D sonar which is used to monitor its surroundings and avoid collisions with walls or other penguins."
...Does is run linux?
(We all knew this was going to be asked!)
(frickin' laser sold separately).
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
I am still relatively young and without children..but is the purpose here that when we systematically destroy actual penguins' habitat I can still show my kid this robot and say "Well, they used to swim kind of like that"....
while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air.
It's called a blimp.
Just callin' it like I see it.
Which distro do they run?
...a Beowulf cluster of these.
Have gnu, will travel.
while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air...
...Run along now."
WTF?
Army Guy: "Hey kids, see the cute penguin?!"
Youngster: "But, mister, why is it flying around, shooting lasers out of its eyes at those Muslims?!"
Army Guy: "Penguins do that sometimes!
I'm so disappointed! We haven't had a story about Stallman for ages now!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Robotic Penguins? Skip the desktop -- 2009 will be the year of the Linux Apocalypse.
Ummm you're a bit late... I think your counting should be closer to -32,768
I hope these penguins don't start hassling me about Linux.
They're penguins. It is in their nature to hassle you about Linux.
Heck, they're computerized penguins! There is no escape! >:D
Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
wouldn't work in space, the fins need something (eg. air) to push against
Paddling is drag-based propulsion (i.e. the animal uses the drag from moving a paddle in the opposite direction to produce thrust in the direction they are moving). Paddling is not very efficient because it requires a recovery phase to reset the paddle. This is how most quadrupeds, such as muskrats, polar bears, even humans, swim.
Penguins use lift-based propulsion from pectoral oscillation, or literally flapping their wings, just like the birds that they are. They generate thrust from the forward component of the lift produced by their wings depending on the angle of attack. This is much more efficient, as there is no recovery phase and so thrust can be produced almost constantly. This is how penguins (both real and the robots) and sea lions swim. Seals, whales, and dolphins use the same type of propulsion, but use their flukes or rear flippers instead of their pectoral flippers.
Just to be pedantic, but for some reason, the idea of penguins paddling bothers me. :-/
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
I get the sneaking suspicion that Disney is going to buy a whole fleet of these things and create a Happy Feet show at Disney World.
Not all G- or PG-rated animated films with talking animals are produced or published by The Walt Disney Company. March of the Penguins was distributed by Warner. Happy Feet was also Warner. Surf's Up was Columbia. What was Disney's penguin movie called?