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Awesome Robots

Robot Caterpillar Climbs a Pile of Wood

Robot Caterpillar Climbs a Pile of Wood

Artist Reuben Margolin creates kinetic sculptures inspired by nature and math. For his work Caterpillar and Woodpile, he created an articulated robot that moves like a caterpillar and programmed it to climb a woodpile in the shape of a polynomial spline. The machine’s slow crawl is so relaxing to watch.

Magnetic Slime Robot

Magnetic Slime Robot

This yucky blob looks like something your dog might leave on the grass, but it’s actually a liquid robot that can be controlled by a human. AsapSCIENCE speaks with Professor Li Zhang to learn about his team’s so-called slime robot, how it works, and its potentially life-saving applications.

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Bricklaying Robot

Bricklaying Robot

Laying bricks by hand is a laborious process. Aussie company FBR’s Hadrian X robot automates the process. The robot is loaded with a CAD layout, dispenses blocks, applies adhesive, and precisely places each one until the structure is complete. A single human monitors the robot from inside of its control vehicle.

Tom Scott’s Robot Double

Tom Scott’s Robot Double

The always informative and compelling vlogger Tom Scott visited Engineering Arts to check out their work in humanoid robotics. What he was greeted by was a mechanical doppelgänger the team built, which Tom commissioned to deliver sponsor’s messages on his behalf.

Robot Penguins Jump Rope

Robot Penguins Jump Rope

Ricoh’s unusual Penta-X robot set a new world record for the most robot jumps in one minute. This waddle of five of conjoined penguinbots jumped rope 170 times in a row, and charmed their way into our hearts at the same time. Of course they have a long way to go to beat this human.

Golf Club Shooter Caddy

Golf Club Shooter Caddy

When we first read the headline for Nick O’Hara’s Golf Club Shooter, we thought it was for throwing clubs when you’re having a bad day. But it’s much more helpful. This machine is a remote-controlled caddy that rotates to the specific club you want then tosses it to you. It can also recommend a club using a voice assistant.

Mini Cheetah Robot Runs Fast

Mini Cheetah Robot Runs Fast

Researchers at MIT CSAIL have been working on improvements to its Mini Cheetah quadruped robot, among them a model-free learning that helps it figure out how to traverse varied terrain through trial and error. Along the way, the little guy managed to set a new speed record for its platform – 3.9 m/s (~8.7 mph).

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Robotic Wheelchair Lifter Arm

Robotic Wheelchair Lifter Arm

Getting around in a wheelchair poses its challenges, especially when it comes to putting your chair away after sitting in a car. The AbiLoader by AbiliQuip can lift up a wheelchair parked next to the driver’s door and stow or retrieve it from the trunk in just 25 seconds.

Wearable Robot Disc Launcher

Wearable Robot Disc Launcher

Shane from Stuff Made Here has made a career out of cheating at sports through the power of science and engineering. His latest build is a robust machine that can fling frisbees at speeds up to 115 mph. But can he use it without it breaking his arm?

Block Line Engineer

Block Line Engineer

Electron Dust, the engineer behind the fascinating Octo-Bouncer, created this physics-based sandbox game where players build and position machines to toss and drop blocks into holes. Connect and program multiple robot arms and grippers to pass along blocks and feed them to the proper location.

After Yang (Trailer)

After Yang (Trailer)

Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith star in this science-fiction drama about a future where people purchase humanoid robots as household companions, and the crisis that ensues when one family’s robot son stops functioning. Written and directed by Kogonada. Coming to theaters and Showtime on 3.4.2022.

Robot Spy Crab

Robot Spy Crab

The nature photographers at John Downer Productions are known for infiltrating animal communities by packing cameras into lifelike robots. In this clip from Spy in the Wild 2, one of their robots crab-walked with thousands of real-life crustaceans and played a crab version of Frogger crossing the roads on Christmas Island.

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Bigbug (Trailer)

Bigbug (Trailer)

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, creator of Amélie, Delicatessen, and City of Lost Children helmed this science fiction comedy about a group of suburbanites who are locked inside their homes by their robots when an android revolution starts outside. On Netflix 2.11.2022.

Autonomous NERF Sentry Turret

Autonomous NERF Sentry Turret

Taking inspiration from KillJoy’s turret in Valorant, engineer Vinnie Satriale built this motorized NERF weapon that uses computer vision to lock onto the closest moving target and fire harmless foam projectiles at them. He built it as an alarm clock because he kept oversleeping.

CyberKAT R/C Snowcat

CyberKAT R/C Snowcat

Ryan Butler of Spyker Workshop built this powerful electric vehicle with a design clearly inspired by Tesla’s Cybertruck. The 29″ long remote-controlled snowcat is remarkably quick, zooming across rugged and snowy terrain with ease. The kit is available for pre-order for $1299 to $1499, with the first orders shipping in Q1 2022.

How To Build a Robot Suit

How To Build a Robot Suit

What you’re looking at here isn’t a real robot, it’s a really impressive costume, built by artist XiaoQianFeng. She created the wearable mech outfit for her brother using wire mesh, paper mache, cardboard, wood, and if you can believe it, ceramic tile. The finished costume is too heavy to move around in, but it looks amazing.

Evolving Soft Robots

Evolving Soft Robots

Scientists from MIT CSAIL have developed Evolution Gym, a system that uses artificial intelligence to optimize the design and control logic of soft robots. Like strange digital animals, the simulated robots autonomously evolve to perform specific tasks like walking, jumping, climbing, or carrying objects.

Expressive Humanoid Robot

Expressive Humanoid Robot

Engineered Arts shows off their Ameca robot, an advanced humanoid that can produce convincing facial expressions and gestures. The robotic platform is designed to improve human-robot interaction, and as a vehicle for AI technology. It’s expected to be on display at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. (Thanks, Rob!)

Boston Dynamics in the ’90s

Boston Dynamics in the ’90s

Boston Dynamics has made a name for themselves with their humanoid and animal-inspired robots. We’ve previously met Spot, their robo-dog that can handle all kinds of terrain and carry small payloads. Future Punk made this fun video that imagines what Spot might have been like had he come out in the 1990s.

Inside Out and Upside Down

Inside Out and Upside Down

Gadget artist Dr. Katsumoto Yuichiro demonstrates a couple of intriguing robot designs which can shape-shift themselves using a combination of telescoping arms and hinges. The first video shows a cube configuration that turns itself inside out, while the second features triangles that can flip themselves over.

Robot Mural Painter

Robot Mural Painter

Shane from Stuff Made Here had a big wall in his workshop that he needed to paint. But rather than get out the rollers himself, he spent more than a month engineering and fabricating a robot to do the work for him. But this thing doesn’t just paint a flat color; it outputs multi-color images like a giant inkjet printer.

Spot Me Up

Spot Me Up

Boston Dynamics programmed one of its nimble Spot robots to mimic the dance moves of Mick Jagger. But that’s not all. Spot is soon joined by the other members of the Robot Stones to replicate the music video for their classic hit Start Me Up.

The Trash-eating Robot

The Trash-eating Robot

The sheer amount of trash floating in our oceans and waterways is staggering. To help TeamSeas reach its goal of removing 30 million pounds of trash by January 1, 2022, Mark Rober challenged Mr. Beast to see if an army of humans or trash-gobbling robot boat could remove more trash in the same amount of time.

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