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Video Friday: Resilient Bugbots

Cars That Think

Inspired by the hardiness of bumblebees, MIT researchers have developed repair techniques that enable a bug-sized aerial robot to sustain severe damage to the actuators, or artificial muscles, that power its wings—but to still fly effectively. [ MIT ] This robot gripper is called DragonClaw, and do you really need to know anything else?

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Video Friday: Lunar Rover

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In December of 2021 at the mock lunar surface environment in JAXA’s Sagamihara Campus, the GITAI lunar robotic rover R1 conducted numerous tasks and mobility operations, successfully completing all planned tests. This is cool looking, but I'd need to know more about how this system can deal with an actual lunar environment, right?

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Video Friday: Quadruped Transformer

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Swiss-Mile ] OTTO Lifter drives nimbly in crowded and dynamic environments and improves safety in warehouses and facilities. B&R Automation ] How does the Waymo Driver safely handle interactions with cyclists in dense urban environments like San Francisco? Robot Brains ] Thanks, Alice!

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MIT’s Copenhagen Bike Wheel

Green Car Congress

Researchers at MIT have developed a new bicycle rear wheel—the Copenhagen Wheel —that can capture energy from braking and deliver the power back to provide a boost. A close-up of the Copenhagen Wheel, from MIT’s SENSEable City Lab. Click to enlarge. Click to enlarge.

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Ford OpenXC platform out of beta; open-source hardware and software platform

Green Car Congress

Following on the launch of its first software developer program ( earlier post ), Ford is now turning its attention to the growing trend in hardware hacking by transforming vehicles into an experimental development environment. OpenXC gives developers and researchers the tools they need to get involved.

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Video Friday: Mini Pupper

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The basic kit is $250, which includes just the custom parts, so you'll need to add your own 3D printed parts, some of the electronics, and the battery. A complete Mini Pupper kit is $500, or get it fully assembled for an extra $60. MIT ] Among the first electronic mobile robots were the experimental machines of neuroscientist W.

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Xerox Parc’s Engineers on How They Invented the Future—and How Xerox Lost It

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The Open Environment and How It Changed PARC started with a small nucleus—perhaps fewer than 20 people. The first personal computer developed in the United States is commonly thought to be the MITS Altair, which sold as a hobbyist’s kit in 1976. At nearly the same time the Apple I became available, also in kit form.

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