标签: FESTO

All sorts of things are currently buzzing in my head. For example, I recently ran across this video showing some awesome robots.   I've seen some of these little scamps before, but others were completely new to me. Even the robots with which I'm familiar are displaying ever-more sophisticated capabilities, such as Honda's humanoid ASIMO robot, which we see literally jumping around. There's even one for my chum David Ashton from Down Under -- a robot kangaroo called FESTO.   I also ran across a series of videos by a guy who refers to himself as "Thoughty 2 ," which is a pretty clever name on multiple levels when you come to think about it. Take this video , for example, which features some bizarre human traditions.   Some of these are funny; some are interesting; some are strange; and some make one's eyes water in sympathy. I don’t know what our future robot overlords are going to make of these when they see them, but I fear it bodes ill for us.   Last, but certainly not least, do you recall this video of a guy riding a monowheel at the Burning Man festival? I have to admit that when I first saw this little beauty (the monowheel, not the guy riding it), I thought to myself "Oooh, Daddy's got to get himself one of those!" (Or words to that effect).   Of course, monowheels come in all shapes and sizes. I also like those rinky-dinky miniature personal transporter versions. In fact I saw someone scooting around on something like this a few weeks ago in Silicon Valley when I was attending ESC, and I have to admit that I experienced an "Oooh, Shiny!" moment.     And then, just this morning, someone pointed me at this column on MakeZine.com, which introduced me to the concept of a monowheel that you sit inside. The image below shows Dr. Dave Southall sitting on (or in, I suppose) one of his creations.     From the expression on Dave's face, I fear he's wishing he'd made the seat a tad more comfortable -- either that or his underwear is riding up -- but the overall concept looks sound. I can easily imagine myself tootling around my neighborhood on one of these little beauties, but I don’t have the time to make one -- I wonder if you can buy them ready built?

费斯托公司制造了大量的以生物为灵感的飞行机器人，包括仿生蜻蜓、仿生昆虫等 ，但是最近推出的这个蝴蝶机器人要比其他的仿生飞行机器人要漂亮。每一个都能独立操作，通过能够独立控制的翼来调整自己，按照预编程的路线飞行。   蝴蝶仿生机器人每只 翼展长度是50厘米，重量只有32克。有两台电动机独立的驱动两只翅膀，一个IMU，加速计，陀螺仪，指南针，还有两个90毫安的聚合物电池。 每秒拍打1-2次翅膀，最高速度可达到2.5m/s,飞行3-4分钟就得充15分钟的电。机翼本身使用的是碳纤维骨架，并覆盖更薄的弹性电容膜。       以前Festo推出过一款仿生蜻蜓，这款身长44cm、翼展63cm和重量仅为175克的机械蜻蜓BionicOpter，更重要的是它搭载一个ARM处理器、9个马达和一个无线接收器，四只碳纤维材质的翅膀是极具弹性的聚酰胺组成。每只翅膀都有一個独立的振幅控制器，协调地转动和摆动让BionicOpter能夠自由飞去任何方向，甚至是定点悬浮监测，起飞时无需人手便能自己起飞。用来去做军事窃听或者盗取机密文件绝对是不可少之物——BionicOpter。  

Festo seems to be on the way to building the robot version of Noah's Ark. The series of bio-inspired robots that have come out of their labs is simply breathtaking. Their latest release is a Kangaroo bot that touts a very energy-efficient jump.   Festo is a company that specialises in pneumatics. Many of their bots are displays of unique pneumatic implementations and control schemes, often pushing the boundaries of what people typically perceive as the best use of pneumatic systems. This Kangaroo is an impressive display of mechanical engineering as well as pneumatic energy harvesting. As the bot jumps, it expends energy, but the landing recaptures some for the next jump. There were actually two designs of this bot: one with an onboard compressor and one with only a high-capacity air reservoir.   The entire bot isn't pneumatic though. The weight distribution in the hips is controlled by electric motors, as you can see in the video. You may also notice that the control scheme is fairly unique. The robot is controlled via a wireless arm-band worn by the operator. Unfortunately, there are no details on how the gesture control system works. Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times

Festo may well be on the track to building the robot version of Noah's Ark. The series of bio-inspired robots that have come out of their labs is simply breathtaking. Their latest release is a Kangaroo bot that touts a very energy-efficient jump.   Festo is a company that specialises in pneumatics. Many of their bots are displays of unique pneumatic implementations and control schemes, often pushing the boundaries of what people typically perceive as the best use of pneumatic systems. This Kangaroo is an impressive display of mechanical engineering as well as pneumatic energy harvesting. As the bot jumps, it expends energy, but the landing recaptures some for the next jump. There were actually two designs of this bot: one with an onboard compressor and one with only a high-capacity air reservoir.   The entire bot isn't pneumatic though. The weight distribution in the hips is controlled by electric motors, as you can see in the video. You may also notice that the control scheme is fairly unique. The robot is controlled via a wireless arm-band worn by the operator. Unfortunately, there are no details on how the gesture control system works. Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times