One giant leap for micro-robots

Chris, Detroit, MI — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:24:10 GMT

We did things like this when I was in school. We didn't have the Internet to publicize them, though.

Kids are going to be kids, but the thing that has changed is that parents aren't acting like parents, these days.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Mark, Lake Charles, La. — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:36:18 GMT

What robots? All I see on the video is windup toys that jump. Back in the sixties China was making windup tin toys that jumped. Now we are supposed to maybe send em to Mars. Who's going to be there to wind em up on Mars anyway? John Deere now has a tractor that has legs and walks like a spider. Lets send a John Deere to Mars and get some real dirt work done!

One giant leap for micro-robots

K.,Austin, TX — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:18:01 GMT

Definitely not anything new. Any search for BEAM Robotics or Mark Tilden will return a slew of information about robots of these types. This has been around at least since the 80's. Old News.

One giant leap for micro-robots

greg, raleigh, nc — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:01:32 GMT

Those little details.... landings.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Coreyg — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:08:10 GMT

I think it looks more like a robotic kangaroo.

One giant leap for micro-robots

DanE, Chicago, IL — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:49:46 GMT

Yeah those kids and their crazy symposiums! When will people learn that parents have to keep an eye on their kids or its Skynet all over again!

lol

One giant leap for micro-robots

Mike Brown, Cape Girardeau Mo. 63701 — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:32:48 GMT

I am very impressed with the new robotic hopper. I have an idea as far as a possible solution to solving the righting itself after a jump. If there was any way for the legs to be able to revolve around the body in a full 360 deg radius, and rotate independently of each other, when the robot is laying on its side, the leg that is sticking up in the air could cross over the top of the robot till it hits the ground on the other side and begin to "close its legs" and lift itself back off of the ground.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Guy S. Newell — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:53:44 GMT

We could like build an artificial swarm of these things and perform all kinds of AI experiments. The military applications would be astounding. Just imagine millions of these things jumping accross a battle field and exploding when comming into proximity of metal or buildings or solders, ect. Let the Chicoms think about that for a while....

One giant leap for micro-robots

jon anderson richmond va — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:16:03 GMT

now lets make a robot that can cure cancer

One giant leap for micro-robots

Toronto — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:08:47 GMT

OK. Let me get this straight. It can hop, but has no control ovr how it lands. And it has no sense of direction. Sounds like a good start, but that's all. On Mars, with less gravity, you could load it up with more hardware and still jump high. Earthly applications will have to wait.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Les Wen — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:55:49 GMT

By the time this hopper is ready for real action, it's mostlikely going to weigh so much that it will hop 0.014m. Sending something to the next town or even next continent is one thing, sending it to outer space, to mars or other planets, NOT SO MUCH.
Hey then on the other hand, imagine how high it would hop on the MOON.

One giant leap for micro-robots

LesWen, NJ — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:01:11 GMT

I got 1 more thing, my grandpa used to create "hoppers" with toothpicks and rubberbands for us, they use to hop all the way to the ceiling and they were smaller then this hopper.

One giant leap for micro-robots

mirko, pasadena, ca — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:34:05 GMT

...did you guys notice that it jumps 10times better than any other jumping robot? -maybe it takes a little bit more to do that than just putting together a few parts... (but maybe it takes some technical understanding to realize this :-) )

One giant leap for micro-robots

ibanks, Seattle WA — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:54:36 GMT

LesWen, I was thinking along the same wavelength.

You know those little plastic frog toys, with the tab on their butts...

Until you build a unit that can right itself, and control it's travel. You don't have a 'robot' you have an expensive, gimicky, hopping toy automaton, at best.

One giant leap for micro-robots

ibanks, Seattle WA — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:20:00 GMT

mirko,

It takes just about as much technical understanding. To put a few parts together and do that.

P.S. It's not a robot...

One giant leap for micro-robots

David Buckley — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:34:36 GMT

Jumping 10 times better, rubbish, that is only because these guys have no knowledge of what was done in the past. School kids on Technogames were doing better.
Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, well I suppose their jumper is very complicated, after all it has moving parts and one motor, no wonder the IEEE were impressed.
Sigh.....

One giant leap for micro-robots

Oz Arguilez, San Diego CA — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:26:49 GMT

Please, no...last thing we need is astronauts wearing John Deere hats and belt buckles.

One giant leap for micro-robots

W.W. Terry — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:30:53 GMT

Why does the robot jumper need to right itself? Wider foot base and lower ovver all height in relation to base and the jumper will always land upright. Perhaps flutering flim wings that pop out at the peak of it's jump can act as a parachute to slow it's decent increasing it's lingering time. And on and on.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Dan Barnes — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:03:48 GMT

Minature and then micro robotic devices can help transform Mars and other planets for human habitation. Since humans don't have the self discipline to limit their population growth (and their religions mostly don't help either) future choices will be either war or colonization of other worlds. Hopefully scientific progress will always take up the slack for religions that are odds with the reality of Earth's limited resources.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Marie, Alachua Fl — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:56:15 GMT

Gee, I think Boston Dynamics is already working on something like this, and it rights itself too.....

One giant leap for micro-robots

Martin in TX — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:57:31 GMT

I notice it has tiny gears in it. Leave it to the Swiss to build on what they know...

One giant leap for micro-robots

X X, X, X — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:19:27 GMT

I believe that this thing is a great thing- It's closer then the things you all reference. It mimics the animal's way of jumping, uses a camera and such, which means we may one day be able to have robotic limbs made (Without the cameras) for those who lose limbs to disease, war or paralysis and can regain their lost abilities by way of new parts. Just look at the big picture.

One giant leap for micro-robots

Will Wiegman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:38:32 GMT

That little metal hopping frog from the Cracker Jacks boxes in the 50's was the key to solving the puzzle of how energy is stored in the Krebs Cycle. No telling what one simple idea will translate to...