'Nightmarish' blob-like robot unveiled in US

'Nightmarish' blob-like robot unveiled in US

news.ninemsn.com.au

A unique blob-like robot that is wet, fleshy and capable of squeezing through tiny holes is exciting scientists and horrifying bloggers.

The "Chembot" was unveiled at a robotics conference in the US last week and is the result of a multi-million dollar grant from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The robot moves by inflating and deflating parts of its body via a process called "jamming", which causes its silicone skin to change between semi-liquid and solid states.

DARPA hopes the robot will be able to assist in military search-and-rescue operations, where

(visit the link for the full news article)







[edit on 19-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

Beware of the Blob!!!!!!
The horror film form 1958 that struck terror in the heart of bobby socked teens all of the world may have become a reality. Meet the BLOB, jamming, skin enabled locomotion.
Actually it looks gross, but its kinda lame, with all the wires hanging out the back.

Anyone got suggestions what they plan on using this for? Search and rescue?

"As a new kind of chemical robot (or chembot), the blob bot has stretchy silicone skin, which is composed of multiple cellular compartments that each contain a "jammable slurry." When some of these cells are unjammed, and an actuator in the center of the robot is inflated, the robot inflates in the areas of the unjammed cells. By controlling which cells are unjammed, the researchers can change the shape of the robot and make it roll in a specific direction. The new robot is being funded by DARPA, which gave iRobot $3.3 million to work on the chembot last year. The goal is to build a robot that can squeeze through tiny openings smaller than its own dimensions, which could be valuable in a variety of missions. The video shows the robot from about one year ago, and since then the researchers have been working on adding sensors and connecting multiple blob bots together. "

www.physorg.com...

Below is the manufacturers video on jamming, a process where material can transition from liquid like to solid state. Flexible skin constricts and has pressure differentials to allow for locomotion.
Here is a morphing robot ladies and gentleman.




news.ninemsn.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 19-10-2009 by zazzafrazz]

i hope by the time i have kids they make a toy out of that technology.
that would be so cool to have and kids would be a good excuse for me buying it.

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest


over 3 million dollars for a kids toy...ace!
i cant think what else they would do with it...it reminds me of a lung.

Oh great,

Now they have yet another way to watch us masturbate.

I wonder how many of us will get on you tube this way hrmmmmmmmm

im sure once this technology isnt so new the price will come down...

And if not, ill have to start playing the lottery so i can get one anyways

and as for other purposes, it does mention use as a search and rescue robot.

im sure it could also be weaponized. you know, make it explosive and put it into airducts and small spaces and have it crawl/roll to the target.

it might be able to be used in safety devices...i dont know.

im sure they will think of something.

[edit on 19-10-2009 by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest]

The video never shows it squeeze through anything tight.

regardless its an interesting technology.

Uhh, not quite what I expected. This thing is going to be used by the military? It doesn't seem very practical to me.

If the selling point of the thing is that it can go small to fit through an enclosed space, why not just make it small to begin with and it wouldn't need to?

It's certainly neat, and I appreciate it from the perspective as a fan of sci-fi, but really I get the impression here that DARPA is working on far cooler stuff than this, and this is the failed rubbish that they trot out to the public, so they dont wonder where their tax dollars are going.

I can see an application where it plugs a hole somewhere where water is leaking in. It constricts fills the hole then expands sealing off the breach.

Other than that, slap some lights on it, give it a USB interface radio control, and let kids play with it.

I don't know......guess my distrust of our government has me thinking this will, eventually, be used against so-called 'home grown terrorism' - those Americans that speak out against the government. You know, all the types of Americans the gov has already deemed a threat?? Veterans, gun owners, Ron Paul supporters, ect......

reply to post by Champagne


What will they do with that? Send it up the drain pipe and clog your toilet? What is DARPA now a college frat house?

"We'll get those homegrown terrorists, we will stop their toilet!"

"BRILLIANT!"

[edit on 10/19/2009 by whatukno]

I have seen better creations at a public school science fair.

Originally posted by AccessDenied
I have seen better creations at a public school science fair.

dont forget it is only good once you spend millions to make it..lol

I can't watch the videos so I don't know whether the point is addressed there, but surely there's medical implications here? Maybe this could expand on the possibilities of 'key hole' surgery and the like? Hernia repair? Heart repair?

I'll have to make a comment later on just how creepy I find this thing is...
but right now I have this blob oozing under my front door I have to deal with...

i could see this being used as locomotion or 'muscle' in other robotics..

imagine a tank/vehicle with 'wheels' made of this stuff

or as 'muscle' in prosthetics

i think it gets creepy when you think about it on a nano technology scale, yikes

It's funded by DARPA?

Bad news, as that means it's ultimate purpose is to kill, maim and destroy.

Originally posted by zazzafrazz
reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest

 

over 3 million dollars for a kids toy...ace!
i cant think what else they would do with it...it reminds me of a lung.

They could make sex toys with this technology, or adaptive seats/beds that conform to a person's individual pressure points.

-rrr

As a stand alone idea,this does not appear to be very useful,except for maybe squeezing into enemy HQs through a gap in the wall with a camera/mic equipped.

But,the blob stuff had me thinking-this would be great to use as robot "muscle."
It could maybe be adapted to use in robotics instead of servos or hydralics.
It could help humanoid robots move more naturally/smoothly maybe.

I hope this gets used for some creative projects,and not just applied to the ever expanding mechanics of killing people.
But I won't hold my breath.

Originally posted by exposethosesecrets
It's funded by DARPA?

Bad news, as that means it's ultimate purpose is to kill, maim and destroy.

It's so cavalier of you to besmirch DARPA, all the while making heavy use of the technology (the Internet) which they effectively pioneered. So if you have a distaste of DARPA, please unplug your PC immediately, just to be fair.