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Google is making moves to acquire robotics firms to
develop higher capabilities and products. Their purchase of Boston Dynamics and
seven other companies indicate that they have made their way into the military
market (1).
The program is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that seeks
to create a new generation of robots. Combining the knowledge of multiple
agencies through acquisition raises Google’s stature in this field.
The goal for the time being is to develop robots
that mimic things in nature. It is likely that someday they will try and put
different capabilities into the same robot. At present some of the interesting
stuff includes a 28 mph running cheetah, SquishBot which changes shape to
get in tight areas, and Petman which mimics human abilities (2).
Each of these robots takes significant research, designing, and software.
Google has
developed the Android service, plenty of applications, and has satellites that
map the world. They are in a unique position to incorporate the knowledge and
abilities of other companies to create new functional uses (3).
As a strategy it is likely that Google will obtain additional military contracts
and use their wide breadth of knowledge to converge to fast developing new
civilian and military products.
There are other applications outside of military
that delve into supply chain management, search and rescue, industrial
automation, and space flight. Such robots have high capabilities and are not
subject to environmental constraints that humans are. As these robots develop
we are likely to officially enter the second industrial revolution as this
technology becomes sold to other industries.
Possibilities are endless with new bug size robots
that are likely to fly the earth over in search of helping victims, fixing hard to
reach equipment, and helping to capture bad guys. New technology offers the
opportunity to move into the era of micro-robotics. What was once science
fiction now becomes science after many years of design, failure, and eventual
success. This article introduces the
robot that is almost the size of a fly. Both the process and the product helps to further science and industry.
The smallest robot man has ever made recently took
flight at Harvard University. Robobee, as it has been termed, weights 1/10th
a gram and is less than 3 centimeters wide. It is expected that such a robot
will be able to help with a number of different situations such as farming,
search and rescue, and monitoring. With
such a dainty size it could be put to use in thousands of places once it has
been fully developed.
Infrared cameras were placed around the room and
picked up on tiny reflective strips on Robobee to determine both direction and
flight position. The information was sent back to the main processing computer
that helped to adjust movement. At present the method has some limitations for
use in a natural environment as there will not be external cameras to control
Robobee. The use of an internal camera and the use of GPS will need to be
integrated for it to have practical utility on a wide scale.
The information from the processing computer was sent
through a tiny wire to the bee to adjust its flight. When it turned right it
would speed up its left wing velocity and when it wanted to turn left it would
speed up its right wing velocity. The change in air current allowed for the bee
to swing in different directions. In the future, Robobee will likely have a
small battery and a remote control system.
The May 2013 Journal of Science offers the abstract
for readers (May, Chiraratananon, Fuller & Wood, 2013:
Flies
are among the most agile flying creatures on Earth. To mimic this aerial
prowess in a similarly sized robot requires tiny, high-efficiency mechanical
components that pose miniaturization challenges governed by force-scaling laws,
suggesting unconventional solutions for propulsion, actuation, and
manufacturing. To this end, we developed high-power-density piezoelectric
flight muscles and a manufacturing methodology capable of rapidly prototyping
articulated, flexure-based sub-millimeter mechanisms. We built an 80-milligram,
insect-scale, flapping-wing robot modeled loosely on the morphology of flies.
Using a modular approach to flight control that relies on limited information
about the robot’s dynamics, we demonstrated tethered but unconstrained stable
hovering and basic controlled flight maneuvers. The result validates a
sufficient suite of innovations for achieving artificial, insect-like flight.
Out of the study came another finding about the process of manufacturing the bee. Using a newly patented concept called pop-up fabrication the robot was constructed in layers that were
then shaped through cutting the edges off with a lazer. With a robot of this
size the micro nature of the parts made the project difficult with over 10
years being spent in its production. The hope is that pop-up fabrication will be
used to make medical devices that also have tiny parts.
Robobee offers a chance to see how innovation
started in universities eventually makes its way into the commercial market. New
technology has been developed and as it becomes refined companies will likely seek
the technology to develop new products. Initial discoveries are always expensive
and as standardization takes place the price of the product begins to come
down. The same is true for the robot and the process.
If you see Robobee at a doorway near you please do
not swat him!
(May, K. Chiraratananon, P., Fuller, S. & Wood, R.
(May, 2013) Controlled Flight of biologically inspired insect-scale robot.
Science, 340 (6132). Retrieved May 3rd, 2013 from http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6132/603
