Having already broken new ground in robotics with the development, last year, of a class of “soft”, silicone-based robots based on creatures like squid and octopi, Harvard scientists are now working to create systems that would allow the robots to camouflage themselves, or stand out in their environment.

As described in a paper published August 16 in Science, a team of researchers led by George M. Whitesides, the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor, has developed a “dynamic coloration” system for soft robots that might one day have applications ranging from helping doctors plan complex surgeries to acting as a visual marker to help search crews following a disaster.

In this video, Stephen Morin, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Chemistry and Chemical Biology and first author of the paper, discusses the research and demonstrates how the system works.

Links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC1WFU4G-WU

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Youtube Video – http://youtu.be/VRMEtCCDR_E

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Video:http://youtu.be/f4IavKUzK2c

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About the Project

University of Colorado Boulder Assistant Professor Nikolaus Correll likes to think in multiples. If one robot can accomplish a singular task, think how much more could be accomplished if you had hundreds of them. Correll and his computer science research team, including research associate Dustin Reishus and professional research assistant Nick Farrow, have developed a basic robotic building block, which he hopes to reproduce in large quantities to develop increasingly complex systems.

Recently the team created a swarm of 20 robots, each the size of a pingpong ball, which they call “droplets.” When the droplets swarm together, Correll said, they form a “liquid that thinks.”

Terminator Movie like Robot Swarms

To accelerate the pace of innovation, he has created a lab where students can explore and develop new applications of robotics with basic, inexpensive tools. Similar to the fictional “nanomorphs” depicted in the “Terminator” films, large swarms of intelligent robotic devices could be used for a range of tasks. Swarms of robots could be unleashed to contain an oil spill or to self-assemble into a piece of hardware after being launched separately into space, Correll said.

Correll plans to use the droplets to demonstrate self-assembly and swarm-intelligent behaviors such as pattern recognition, sensor-based motion and adaptive shape change. These behaviors could then be transferred to large swarms for water- or air-based tasks. Correll hopes to create a design methodology for aggregating the droplets into more complex behaviors such as assembling parts of a large space telescope or an aircraft.

Awards

In the fall, Correll received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development award known as “CAREER.” In addition, he has received support from NSF’s Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research program, as well as NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

He also is continuing work on robotic garden technology he developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009. Correll has been working with Joseph Tanner in CU-Boulder’s aerospace engineering sciences department to further develop the technology, involving autonomous sensors and robots that can tend gardens, in conjunction with a model of a long-term space habitat being built by students.

Concept of Collaborating Celss

Correll says there is virtually no limit to what might be created through distributed intelligence systems. “Every living organism is made from a swarm of collaborating cells,” he said. “Perhaps some day, our swarms will colonize space where they will assemble habitats and lush gardens for future space explorers.”

For a short video of Correll’s team developing swarm droplets visit

http://www.colorado.edu/news/multimedia/researchers-creating-team-tiny-robots.

For more information about Correll’s lab at CU-Boulder visit

http://correll.cs.colorado.edu/

Video:http://youtu.be/qEtpwljR5mY

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This video shows a modified iRobot 510 PackBot equipped with an advanced suspension system maneuvering on a test course. The compliant suspension improves the robot’s mobility over rough and uneven terrain. The technological enhancement enables faster transit speeds, climbing of very steep slopes, improved heading control, greater accommodation of debris entering the suspension and reduced impact forces on carried payloads.

What is M3

M3 is a research program aimed at improving robot capabilities through fundamentally new approaches to the engineering of better design tools, fabrication methods and control algorithms. The program covers scientific advancement across four parallel tracks: design tools, fabrication methodologies, control methods and technology-demonstration prototypes. The prototypes demonstrated are designed to test technological advances in robotics across a range of functions, and are not necessarily intended to enter production for military use.

For more information on the M3 program, please visit: http://go.usa.gov/E0B

Video: http://youtu.be/wUsyMDvPW6U

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Festo, a multinational robotics firm based in Germany, has made some of the most amazing biologically inspired robots out there. In one of our previous posts, “Festo’s Extraordinary Robots That Mimic Biology I”, you have seen air-penguins and mechanical elephant-arms but these are just few of Festo creations. In these videos, the air-ray, the bionic air-fish, the aqua-jelly, and more are shown. Festo is one of the world leaders in automation, with millions of parts installed in factories all over the globe. Their animal inspired robots are created by the efforts of their Bionic Learning Network. This collection of research groups from academia and industry is part advanced research initiative, part education organization.

Festo is a German industrial control and automation company based in Esslingen,Germany. Festo is an engineering driven company that sells pneumatic and electric actuators primarily to the automation industry.

Video: http://youtu.be/NNNfn7ac-rY

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http://youtu.be/VxSs1kGZQqc

https://micro.seas.harvard.edu/publications.html (Publications Harward)

Check the articke below for detailed information about the video.

 https://micro.seas.harvard.edu/papers/JMM11_Sreetharan_cover.pdf

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