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Rolls-Royce Is Developing Tiny 'Cockroach' Robots To Fix Airplane Engines (cnbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the engine-maintenance dept.

Rolls-Royce announced today that it is teaming up with robotics experts at Harvard University and University of Nottingham to develop tiny "cockroach" robots that can crawl inside aircraft engines to spot and fix problems. These robots will be able to speed up inspections and eliminate the need to remove an engine from an aircraft for repair work to take place. CNBC reports: Sebastian de Rivaz, a research fellow at Harvard Institute, said the inspiration for their design came from the cockroach and that the robotic bugs had been in development for eight years. He added that the next step was to mount cameras on the robots and scale them down to a 15-milimeter size. De Rivaz said that once the robots had performed their duty they could be programed to leave the engine or could simply be "flushed out" by the engine itself.

Also under development are "snake" robots that are flexible enough to travel through an engine like an endoscope. These would enter through a combustion chamber and would inspect damage and remove any debris. The second "snake" would deposit a patch repair that would sit temporarily until the engine was ready for full repair. No schedule is placed on when the crawling robots will be available. You can view animations of each robot type here.

49 comments

  1. They run on leftover airline food by jfdavis668 · · Score: 4, Funny

    A real win-win for the airline.

  2. Won't be long... by Arzaboa · · Score: 1

    ...before someone in the medical community thinks this is a great way to check your prostate.

    --
    "poopy head" -- 3 year old

    1. Re:Won't be long... by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

      It would definitely be an improvement the human doctor who rammed his fist in my rear to check my prostate at my last exam.

    2. Re:Won't be long... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      That's not so bad, my doctor had a whole bunch of interns come over and take a look.

    3. Re: Won't be long... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was one of those interns... we gotta talk about your fibre intake.

    4. Re:Won't be long... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      It would definitely be an improvement the human doctor who rammed his fist in my rear to check my prostate at my last exam.

      Must have seemed odd when you'd only gone in with a slight ear infection.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    5. Re:Won't be long... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It Wasn't his fist.

  3. Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... ... trained to fly.

    The US is Facing a Serious Shortage of Airline Pilots

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    1. Re:Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We also need to bring back the Nazi gas chambers and then shove you into it.

    2. Re:Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it seems obvious that Elon Musk would be interested in selling the tesla autopilot to airplane manufacturers

    3. Re:Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? So it can fly into another plane because it can't see it when flying towards the sun?

    4. Re:Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Tesla's autopilot is like two levels below that of an airplane, which can pretty much fly itself to destination. The pilot is really only there for takeoff and landing and for emergency handling, now days.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. Re:Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My penis pilots itself into your pooper and jackhammers it with the fury of an angry god. And your sissy ass loves it.

    6. Re: Need cockroaches in the cockpit ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually they use autopilot for landing on bsd weather. They use humans only so that they get practice.

  4. i worked on the flightline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    the jet shop was always dropping engines, there's already enough sensors to know when something is wrong, and regular maintenance usually needs the engine off. maybe if were bigger and could diagnose problems and perform maintenance on their own it'd be cool, but it seems silly. i can think of hundreds of other uses for these things though

    1. Re:i worked on the flightline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet they could crawl through air ducts and eavesdrop on sensitive government meetings. Or crawl onto someone and detonate a C4 payload.

    2. Re:i worked on the flightline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The main problem with small bots is that they are small. Small means low-power and low-capability. I doubt the bots depicted in the sci-fi video that passes for research and is linked to TFA have the power to inspect, let alone fix, much of the engine. Likewise a tiny bot C4 payload might tickle, but it's going to be such a tiny fraction of an ounce that it probably won't even hurt unless you detonate it inside someone's nostril.

  5. #1 diagnosed problem for Rolls-Royce engine by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... too many cockroach-robots stuck inside the engine

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    1. Re:#1 diagnosed problem for Rolls-Royce engine by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      As long as you have the lights on, they won't come out.

    2. Re:#1 diagnosed problem for Rolls-Royce engine by hey! · · Score: 1

      They wouldn't have that problem if they went with the other, cooler options: giant cockroach robots.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  6. Can someone make squirrel robots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With tiny circular saws so I can prune my trees??

  7. Did they HAVE to call it that? by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sounds like a neat idea. Shame about the name. Couldn't they have come up with some OTHER thing to liken them to, that isn't as loathesome and nearly-universally hated? Like... I dunno... Pixie Robots? Fairy Robots? Gnome Robots? Even just... some other insect besides THAT one? Lady bug robots? Anyway... I guess this is just a sign of the times.

    --
    Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
    1. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Engineers and programmers are notoriously tone-deaf when it comes to taxonomy, the science of naming things. They come up with names that are stupid, offensive, forgettable, impossible to pronounce or quickly-forgotten inside jokes. Just think about how the world of open source image editing would have taken off if it were not named after a sexual deviant from a 1994 movie.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    2. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by macklin01 · · Score: 2

      Maybe they can call them General REpair Micro LocomotIve automatoNS. Everybody wants to see gremlins in the engines. :-)

      --
      OpenSource.MathCancer.org: open source comp bio
    3. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or even just ants, the classic hard working insect of legend and fable.

      But the first thing I thought of was "first step towards grey goo"

    4. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gnu Image Manipulation Program was not named after a sexual deviant from a 1994 movie.

      Posting anon to preserve mods.

    5. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They could call them MicroNegroes.

    6. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      racism on /.? geez..

    7. Re: Did they HAVE to call it that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are notoriously tone deaf about anything practical, non-linear, or user-friendly. I'm not really expecting this idea to take flight.

    8. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 0

      Oh, come off it, it was obviously named after the gimp from Pulp Fiction. The Gnu thing is just a silly backronym.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    9. Re:Did they HAVE to call it that? by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      GREMLINS

      General
      Repair
      Electronic
      Mechanized
      Locomotive
      Independent
      Nanite
      Sensors.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  8. A familiar character by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So did anyone see Marvin manning the Operations Centre at Rolls Royce?

  9. R2, that stabilizer's broken loose again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    see if you can't lock it down

  10. The Fifth Element by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was the first thing that came to mind... Spies!

  11. Flash? by tsa · · Score: 1

    Does Vimeo use Flash? I just got an empty page on my iPad when I followed the link to the videos.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  12. Enough is enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have had it with these monkey fightin' snakes on this Monday to Friday plane. Oh, and the rock sucking roaches, too.

  13. and soon a new crash cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the (insert flght number here ) 747 took off and crashed a few minutes later. Investigation reveals a cockroach robot was left inside the engine after a routine inspection, causing damage to the turbine blades at startup.
    Cockroach robots presence is normally tracked and security barriers are designed to prevent this , but in this case the robot monitoring system had.. a bug !

  14. So R-R is trying to deliver Snakes on a Plane? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (No text)

  15. Ahh. I see! by NotFamous · · Score: 1

    Now I know what RAID 11 is for.

    --
    Some settling may occur during posting.
  16. Bug by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

    "There's a bug in the engine!"
    "That's not a bug, that's a feature."

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
  17. Obvious Periplanetaphobe is obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you think your Periplanetaphobia is acceptable in modern internet discourse? What, are you anti-American?

  18. Do You Want Replicators? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because this is how you get Replicators!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45Tpp9DBq4