Nov 09
Shadow Robot Company, maker of the 24 Degree-of-freedom dexterous hand, is now making tactile sensors for the hand.
According to Shadow’s web site, "the sensor uses Quantum Tunnelling Composite (QTC) as the sensing medium."
Each sensor has either has either 34 or 22 active tactile elements, tactels, making it nearly as sensitive as human skin. The sensors come in two shapes for either a finger tip or a thumb but they can be custom made to any shape.
The sensors were developed for a DARPA funded project at Johns Hopkins University for new prosthetics.
Shadow Robot Company: The Tactile Sensor Overview
Related:
Shadow Air Muscles
Robot Hand Available
Tactile Sensor
Prospector (noreply@blogger.com)
Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:11:00 GMT
Nov 09
In a technological advance that opens up new possibilities in the fields of robotics and wearable computing, researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a stretchable, rubbery material that conducts electricity and can be incorporated into electronic devices.
The researchers — led by assistant professor Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo — were able to create elastic electronic circuits that could be stretched up to 1.7 times their original size without affecting performance, thanks to conductive wires made from a new carbon nanotube-polymer composite they developed.
In recent years, scientists have made advances in blending carbon nanotubes (good conductors of electricity) with polymers to make flexible conductive materials, but success has been limited because nanotubes tend to cluster together, causing the composite to harden when too many nanotubes are added. The University of Tokyo researchers were able to overcome this hurdle by mixing the nanotubes with an ionic liquid containing charged particles that keep the nanotubes evenly distributed and prevent them from clumping together. The result is a stretchable material that conducts electricity more than 500 times better than other commercially available carbon nanotube-polymer blends.
With the list of potential uses of stretchable electronic circuits limited only by the imagination, the researchers envision applications ranging from high-tech suits that enhance athletic performance and monitor the wearer’s physical condition, to soft machines with flexible mechanical parts. For robots, elastic electronic circuits will enable layers of soft, sensor-laden skin to be stretched tightly across the curves of their bodies, giving them both a more lifelike appearance and greater sensitivity to touch.
The research results were published in the online edition of Science (August 8).
[Link: Yomiuri]
See also: Robot beauty goes skin-deep
Stretchable circuitry for soft machines
Edo
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:42:05 GMT
Oct 28
I am keeping an eye on EEStor. it’s an idea worth looking at even for the robots that we are building.
The company was founded and is led by Dr. Richard Weir who has patented a specialized ultracapacitor called the EESU. The technology uses a barium titanate powder and is theoretically able to store 52 kwh in a 336 pound package. Also, the technology is less expensive to produce than lithium-ion batteries and has a functionally unlimited lifetime.
Jun 22
The Line is a funky furniture system that uses a single unbroken line of metal to create an entire home furniture set—including a lamp, a work table, a hanger, a bookshelf, a wine rack, a CD rack and a TV unit. Made by Aykut Erol, the system is supposed to “extend infinitely with a single line regenerating itself.” I’m not sure how much I want my home to look like it was created out of a giant Etch-a-Sketch, but the resulting pieces are kind of cool to peruse. [Yanko Design]
The Line System Creates All Your Furniture With A Single Line [Furniture]
Elaine Chow
Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:30:00 GMT
Jun 17
This gadget may look weird, and perhaps you can say that it is. The Carrot Curler makes a difficult job, that of making carrot ribbons for garnish, into something easy. Whereas the traditional vegetable peeler is designed for many purposes, the carrot curler has one unique function.
Simply place the carrot in the curler and rotate the carrot clockwise. The ribbons will just shave right off.
image: bed, bath & beyond Tags: carrot curler, curler, carrots, carrot peeler, peeler, vegetables, kitchen, gadgets, gadget, cooking
Carrot Curler
Arieanna
Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:08:38 GMT
Jun 12
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan
The executive vice-president of Nissan R&D, Mitsuhiko Yamashita, expects the fourth-generation of lithium ion batteries to yield ranges of about 400 kilometers (248 miles) by 2015. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, that’s about four times what the current first-gen packs are capable of. Yamashita-san also says the second generation should arrive by 2010 and be good for 170 klicks (105 miles) while we can expect 300 km (186 miles) third gen by 2012.
To those of you who are saying to themselves right now, "What is he even talking about? The Tesla Roadster gets almost that kind of range now with the version 1.5 drive train." (Oh yes, I can hear you). Well, I assume he is talking about slightly different chemistry than Tesla is using as well as a pack small enough to fit something like the Nissan Mixim concept (pictured above). Had we been there in Paris with him, we would have asked how many watt hours per kilogram he was talking about but, alas, we were not. He did give some production numbers though, saying they would start making 13,000 units next year in their joint venture with NEC and ramp up eventually to an annual amount of 65,000 units.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
Nissan exec expects quadrupling of electric car range by 2015
Domenick Yoney
Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:24:51 GMT
Jun 12
Apparently inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s push for domed cities, farmers in Kent, England are building a 220-acre series of connected greenhouses, where nothing will be grown in soil. Instead, nutrient-packed water will be used to grow 1.3 million plants hydroponically. The 7 greenhouses will increase the UK’s green vegetable supply 15%, and the green houses will be self sufficient during the dry season by collecting rainwater from October-April. No word on whether Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin will be allowed inside. [UK Guardian via Jaunted via io9]
British Farmers to Build Giant, Artificial, 220-Acre Farm Under Glass [Too Much Green]
Adrian Covert
Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:09:10 GMT
Jun 12
In a few simple steps, convert an ordinary box into a beauteous, practical solar oven. It’s free, green heat, and impress your friends at a bbq.
Turn a Cardboard Box into a DIY Solar Oven
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:52:03 GMT
I’ve been thinking of getting an electric kettle for some time, and I think I’ve found the most simple, beautiful one I could ever hope for. The small container’s power cord is stored inside the base, explaining that one seam you see running around the base of the unit. I’ll have to pick this up in Japan or ask 
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