Snakes in trees! Robots in trees! Robot snakes in trees!

Carnegie Mellon has taught its robotic snake to climb trees, though one hopes it won’t start offering your spouse apples. “Uncle Sam” (presumably named for its red, white, and blue markings) is a snake robot built from modular pieces. The latest in a line of ‘modsnakes’ from Carnegie Mellon’s Biorobotics Lab, Uncle Sam can move in a variety of different ways including rolling, wiggling, and side-winding. It can also wrap itself around a pole and climb vertically, which comes in handy when scaling a tree. You have to watch this thing in action. There is something incredibly life-like, and eerie, about the way it scales the tree outdoors and then looks around with its camera ‘eye’. Projects like Uncle Sam show how life-mimicking machines could revolutionize robotics in the near future.

Nature is a fantastic designer. Sure, she works slowly, but every project is subjected to years of testing and refinement. It’s no wonder then that we see engineers looking to nature for inspiration in robotics. We’ve reviewed many examples, including Festo’s AirPenguins, UC’s roach-like Dash robot, and Chiba’s hummingbird. Like these other groups, Carnegie Mellon has gone to great lengths to imbue their snake robots with traits from their natural counterparts. The Biorobotics lab has researched the various ways that snakes can move (their gaits) and taught their robots how to follow in their footsteps (so to speak). You can see their effort in the way the Uncle Sam modsnake climbs a tree – the robot seems alive.

Yet what Uncle Sam has over many other bio-inspired robots is its modular design. Built from repeated segments of sensors and actuators, modular bots let you construct larger machines out of relatively simple building blocks. As we’ve discussed before, modular robotics also allow the possibility for robot to self assemble in the field, and to be easily repaired if a section is damaged.

Carnegie Mellon, then, is really pursuing the best of both worlds. Their designs for modsnakes incorporate animal-like movements with very machine-like repetitive construction. That’s a model that could work again and again in robotics moving forward.

Despite the emphasis placed on humanoid robots, animal-like bots have clear advantages and are relatively simpler to build. Snake bots could be hunting for survivors in fallen buildings after natural disasters. With modular design these bots could be as long as they needed. If engineers can work out issues with power supply (you’ll notice Uncle Same is on a tether) they may be here very soon. In any case, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about Carnegie Mellon’s modsnakes in the near future. Especially if Samuel L. Jackson sees this video.

Somebody get these m@#$*#@ f%$%* robot snakes out this m#$%#$* f#$*$% tree!

[screen capture and video credit: Carnegie Mellon]
[source: Carnegie Mellon Biorobotics Lab]

The ReNaChip will allow for fully programmable deep brain stimulation

An international team of researchers led by Dr. Matti Mintz at the University of Tel Aviv is working on a biomimetic computer chip for brain stimulation that is programmable, responsive to neural activity, and capable of bridging broken connections in the brain. Called the Rehabilitation Nano Chip, or ReNaChip, the device could be used to replace diseased or damaged brain tissue, restore brain functions lost to aging, and even treat epilepsy. The chip is currently in animal testing, but should reach human applications within a few years.

The ReNaChip will significantly improve an existing technology called deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical implant that acts as a brain pacemaker for a variety of neurological disorders. DBS delivers electrical stimulation to select areas of the brain via electrodes; for individuals with Parkinson’s, chronic pain, or dystonia, these induced stimulations can significantly alleviate symptoms (e.g. uncontrolled movement). But currently, the stimulation that DBS delivers is constant and unresponsive to brain activity. Because of this, the therapeutic effects are reduced over time. This is where the ReNaChip comes in, making the system responsive to brain activity and fully programmable.

The key to the ReNaChip is that it is bidirectional – it deals in both electrical input and output. First, the system measures electrical signals that are normally present in particular neural tissue via electrodes implanted in the brain. These signals are transmitted to the silicon chip, which analyzes the signal with a variety of programmable algorithms. The chip then delivers electrical stimulation to an appropriate brain area along output electrodes. In contrast to current DBS technology, the ReNaChip would only deliver stimulation where and when it is needed (e.g. it could turn off when a patient is asleep).

Experimental studies are currently underway using rats as a model organism. For now, the researchers are applying the chip to a simple motor microcircuit in the brain: blinking, which is controlled in the cerebellum. The blinking microcircuit degrades with age, so current research aims to rehabilitate the response in aged rats. Input electrodes detect electrical impulses from cerebellar tissue, the silicon chip isolates the relevant signal from background noise, and an electrical stimulation is delivered to implanted electrodes that trigger blinking. If this proof-of-concept study is successful, they will move on to rehabilitating more complex neural wiring.

The chip has both input and output electrodes, allowing for responsive stimulation of neural tissue

While researchers are primarily focusing on motor responses, the applications of the ReNaChip are pretty wide. Any interrupted brain wiring (e.g. as a result of stroke) could conceivably be reconnected using electrodes and the flexibility of the chip’s programming. The chip could also be used to treat epilepsy, if electrodes could detect on oncoming seizure and diffuse it with appropriate stimulation. But researchers have their sights on an even more ambitious goal: rehabilitating the brain’s learning capacities, which would require increasing neural plasticitity. If the ReNaChip could be used to create and strengthen new connective networks, it could partially improve an older brain’s ability to learn new tricks.

There are a few problems with the ReNaChip as it exists now. The size of electrodes limits the precision with which signals can be recorded and delivered. An effort to further miniaturize the electrodes is underway, which would improve the larger DBS overstimulation problem as well. The actual chip size is also an issue of concern; researchers hope that someday the chip could be etched onto the electrodes themselves. Still, they don’t have any plans to put the chip itself inside the brain just yet – it would be inserted under the skin, much like a pacemaker.  Dr. Mintz says the device will need about 6 more months of animal testing, and could reach humans within a few years.

The brain-computer interface is pretty hot territory right now, with research ranging disciplines from medicine to robots.  We recently covered a monkey controlling a robotic arm via brain implants at the University of Pittsburgh, which gives a good idea of where the field is heading.  But not all applications are so far out; next time you think that rewiring the body is mad science, consider how common and effective a simple cochlear implant is… and just to pull the heartstrings, here’s a video of a baby hearing its mother’s voice for the first time.  As neural circuitry is more fully integrated into computer interfaces, we can expect more exciting research in medicine, neuroscience, and prosthetics.

The ReNaChip project is a collaborative effort between multiple international companies and institutions: Newcastle University, WizSoft Data and Text Mining, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Lung University, Tel Aviv University, Guger Technologies, and Istituto Superiore di Santina.

[image credit: St. Jude Medical; North East Vision Magazine]

The A-Pod ant robot is back and better than ever!

When designing insect robots some engineers stop at the six legs. Norwegian Kåre Halvorsen decided to go ‘full ant’ by including a flexible abdomen and a menacing set of mandibles. His A-Pod robot is a highly capable walker that can also lift objects and even pour a drink! The remote controlled hexapod bot struts itself in a new video that Halvorsen just released. This robot has some amazing dexterity and precision. Check it out below! You don’t want to miss the A-Pod making a delivery (2:24) or playing bartender (3:40). Wait a second! Why are those kids being served a beer?

I’m a big fan of biologically inspired robots (I still can’t get enough of the AirPenguins from Festo) and A-Pod is definitely one of the cooler looking prototypes I’ve seen. While Halvorsen doesn’t seem likely to turn the project into a kit (many of the parts need to be custom made in milling machines), I hope that his ant inspired engineering continues. How awesome, and terrifying, would it be to have an army of these things to do your bidding?

Kåre Halvorsen, who also goes by the name Zenta while online, is a regular on hexapod robot forums. As you can see in the video, A-Pod isn’t his only invention – the Phoenix (2:54) and T-Hex (3:10) robots are also pretty sweet. Those interested in learning more about the specifics of his build (the software he uses, his Basic AtomPro 28 processor, the LiPo battery, etc) should check out his posts. You can find his work (and some amazing high resolution photos) on HexapodRobot, TrossenRobotics, and on his YouTube channel.

The A-Pod has been under construction for more than a year. Halvorsen’s previous video for the robot came back in April of 2009. As you can see in the video below, the bot was already very flexible and could use its mandibles quite well. According to Halvorsen’s commentary on the video (YouTube), the differences in the newest version come from software upgrades and improvements to its walking.

A-Pod’s appearance grabs your attention – how can you ignore a giant black ant with huge mandibles? But that body has more than just cosmetic benefits. Biologically inspired robots take nature’s engineering and modify it for mechanics. This can help us find remarkable innovations such as the Dash robot which runs as quickly, and is nearly as indefatigable, as a cockroach. In some sense A-Pod skirts the edge between biomimetics and mere mechanical impersonation. It uses servos instead of fibrous muscle tissue, but its six-legged gait and realistic torso flexing are very insect-like. I wonder what else A-Pod could accomplish if its mimicry extended into every aspect of its composition as well as its overall form.

[image and video credits: Kåre Halvorsen]
[sources: K. Halvorsen (as Zenta) on YouTube, HexapodRobot, and TrossenRobotics]

AirPenguins are the coolest robots I've seen in ages.

I have a new favorite robot. It’s called the AirPenguin and it’s exactly what it sounds like: a robotic penguin that flies. If that doesn’t get you to generate some nerdy exuberance then, brother, you need to turn in your slide rule and hang up your Spock ears. This thing is awesome, and it’s just one of the many creative robots that mimic real-world animals from Festo‘s Biological Learning Network. The BLN uses biology as inspiration for robotic innovation. Festo and their associates have harnessed nature’s design for everything from kite-flying to 3D printing. Watch BLN’s summary videos from the last two years below to see how biology has inspired some very exciting robots.

When robotics engineers are at a loss for how to accomplish a difficult task, mimicking biology (biomimetics) seems like their go-to backup plan. We’ve seen some really great robots that gain their inspiration from nature, including bots that run like a cockroach, fly like a hummingbird and scale walls like a gecko. By co-opting nature’s design, engineers take advantage of millions of years of evolutionary trouble-shooting and debugging. In some cases, copying biology is a short-cut – you can mimic a system without necessarily understanding all the reasons why it works. That’s a great stepping stone and one we’re likely to see more and more often as the field of robotics continues to advance. In the future, we may see useful robots in the shapes of animals as often as in the shapes of humans and household appliances.

To understand the BLN you have to imagine those individual biomimetic research projects and link them together through a joint commercial enterprise. Festo is an international robotics supplier and developer, and the Bionic Learning Network is really just an umbrella name for a series of partnerships with other developers like EvoLogics and Effekt-Technik. All this collaboration allows for companies with vision to be paired with companies with means (either of which may describe Festo in a particular case) and that leads to amazing robots.

Don’t miss the AirPenguin at 1:07!

In essence, Festo has happened on two great tools for advancing research in robotics: biomimicry and collaboration. Neither is new, but in tandem they’ve produced projects that are tantalizing in their possibilities.  As excited as I am about robotic penguins (and I’m freakin’ crazy enthusiastic about them if you haven’t noticed) it’s the soft-touch arms that can interact in a human environment that may have more near term applications. As we build humanoid robots to do our bidding, we have to make sure that they won’t run hurt us in the process of executing their tasks. While that could be accomplished with quick sensors, precision movement, and reactive commands, having softer, more supple robots seems safer.

Copying biology doesn’t guarantee that a robot will outperform the standard industrial model. Festo’s flexible fin grippper and trunk-like arm can’t beat an ABB robot or Flexpicker in a speed test, nor do I think that the biology inspired 3D printer is going to be faster than current commercial models. The same goes for the modular robots, and even the wind-harnessing kite. Yes the Festo Biological Network has the potential to create some never before seen robots (penguins!) but it is likely to take years and many iterations of refining these projects before they are competitive. Just as it would with any other robotics developer.

Perhaps we should view the Bionic Learning Network as a sort of high level professional incubator for new biomimetic ideas. Most of these concepts aren’t likely to make a huge splash in the industry but taken together they represent a healthy exploration of the biomimicry paradigm that is likely to pay huge dividends at some point in the future. It’s a long term vision, but Festo seems to be well acquainted with long-term visions for robotics. They’re a regular (and substantial) sponsor for the FIRST Robotics Competition, after all. It should be interesting to see which of the BLN projects make the cut and how they are applied when they do.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a very geeky daydream about riding a giant AirPenguin through a futuristic city full of animal robots. You’re welcome to join me.

[image and video credit: Festo]
[source: Festo]

Professor Liu at Chiba University has created a 2.6g robot that flies like a hummingbird.

Why just build robots in our own image, when there are millions of other animals to translate into machinery? The latest robot out of Chiba University in Japan can bob and weave like a hummingbird, and only weighs 2.6 grams (0.09 oz). Controlled via IR sensor, the robot can fly for about 6 minutes and up to 10 meters above the ground. Chiba’s hummingbird bot is the brainchild of Professor H. Liu who plans on getting it to hover directly in place (just like it’s namesake) very soon. While the robot only contains a micromotor, carbon fiber frame, and plastic wings for now, Liu wants to include a microcamera by 2011. This addition will allows the device to carry out search missions during emergencies. Check out the video from Diagonal Views below to see how Chiba’s hummingbird is a cool example of how engineers are learning from biology to create some amazing new robots.

We’ve seen plenty of animal inspired bots climbing walls, skittering on floors, and jumping off buildings. There’s even a competing robotic hummingbird project funded by DARPA in the US. Chiba University is at the lead of the trend, however, by getting its robot to fly unaided, even if just for a few minutes at a time. They’ve also pushed the envelope on getting the robot to be lightweight (2.6 grams is much less mass than the US version). However, I think they need to go back to the drawing board when it comes to naming the little bot. With four wings, I’m pretty sure this thing is more like a dragonfly than a hummingbird. In any case it’s cool to watch in action.

Biomimetics (aka biomimicry) is a powerful tool for getting robots to exceed at tasks that living creatures have already conquered. I wonder though, if the future lies in robots that mimic life or in life that is infused with robotics. We’ve seen how cyborg insects have been outfitted with electronic controls to serve as spies. It will be interesting to see which project can field an autonomous flying platform with a camera first. Either way you should expect to see tiny eyes take to the skies fairly soon. After all, machines and biology may be learning to work together, but it’s still human curiosity that is deciding what that work will be.

[image credit: Washington Times]
[video credit: Diagonal View (DiagonalUK on YouTube)]

Like a cockroach, DASH is fast and robust.

Have you ever tried to catch a running cockroach? They’re fast little suckers, and resilient too, which is why scientists at the University of California Berkeley modeled their latest robot after them. DASH or Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod is a six legged robot made from cardboard and polymer. It’s the size of your open hand, weighs just 16 grams, can run up to 1.5 m/s, and survives falls of 28 meters without damage! This cockroach bot is really something to behold. Check out the IEEE Spectrum video after the break and watch how DASH survives the fall from the top of a building and keeps running.

As robotic systems become increasingly complex, they are able to mimic real world creatures. There are toys like the hexbugs, and more advanced robots like StickyBot that exhibit animal skills and/or behavior. The reverse is also true, we’ve seen robotics used to help explain developments in evolution. This interplay between the sciences is important stuff. When the advances in one field are applied in another the rate of new discoveries increases. Feedback loops between biology and robots may be one of the means by which we develop the next generation of genetically engineered machines and life-like automatons.

Watching DASH in action, I’m stunned by how simple yet powerful the robot is. The oar-like motion of its legs is rudimentary, but it allows the bot to travel at 15 body lengths per second. Humans would have to run at 65 mph (~100km/h) to match this feat and we have much more complicated gaits. I’m equally impressed by the upwards scramble at 1:56. Can you imagine running at a 6 foot wall and just popping over it?

UC Berkeley’s Biomimetics Lab, where DASH was created, is also interested in the way that robots are built. To that end, DASH has one of the coolest constructions I’ve seen in a robot that performs this well. First, the materials used for the chassis are simple: cardboard and polymer. Just one DC motor for forward motion and a smaller servomotor for turns keeps the bot weight down (16.2 grams is next to nothing!). Second, the build time (less than one hour) is ridiculous for a hand made robot. Considering DASH’s simple construction, I wonder if they’d be willing to design a version that could be made on a 3D printer like MakerBot. Finally, the design is absurdly robust. I’ve seen some robots that you can toss around, and robots that can jump a wall, but none that can free fall for 25+ meters onto concrete and then walk away.

As cool as DASH is, I’m not sure that we’ll see much more of it. Upgrading to using a carbon fiber body would make it more resilient, but I don’t know that we need a resilient cockroach bot. Instead, I think that DASH is going to be an inspiration piece. It’s a robot whose design, construction, and performance will help engineers create the next generation of industrial and research machines. We could see smaller versions become part of a robotic swarm, or larger versions act as hazardous environment probes.

As engineers continue to adapt animals into robots, there are all sorts of amazing possibilities. DASH runs as fast as a roach, I wonder if there will be a bot that jumps as high as a flea, or that has the proportionate strength of an ant. Certainly we could use a beetle robot to deal with all the… dung… going on in our world.

[photo credit: UC Berkeley Biomimetics Lab]

[video credit: UC Berkeley and IEEE Spectrum]