Did You Say "Robot" Penguins?

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Did You Say "Robot" Penguins?

​

At the Hannover Messe Trade Exhibition [http://www.hannovermesse.de/homepage_e] in Germany, Festo, the firm that brought you a mechanical jellyfish [http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/04/flying-swimming-robot-jellyfish.html], has revealed its latest design inspired by nature: robotic penguins.

The bionic penguins p-p-p [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI0Fa66h6Qo]waddle through water mimicking their real life counterparts, but these penguins can also fly. The bigger penguins have helium inside them, and can move through the air using the same motors they use to swim.

Evologic's [http://www.evologics.de/] 3D sonar is mounted to each bird so that they can traverse in any direction. While robot penguins may seem just a little bit silly to anyone not trying to kill Batman, the process behind the neck joint is actually of great industrial use. Penguins steer with their head underwater, so a robot penguin needs a very flexible and strong neck "muscle."

This particular "muscle" is built from flexible glass rods that are controlled by their own motors. This gives it the ability to move 90 degrees in any direction while still having great strength - far better than any normal robotic "muscle" can achieve.

Source: New Scientist [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16996-bionic-penguins-take-to-the-water--and-the-skies.html]

Permalink

 

[SirSchmoopy]

This is the coolest thing I will see all month.

 

[Doug]

Thats a good robotic flying penguin!

I wondered how the BBC faked this

 

[Baby Tea]

That is really freaking cool.
Who wants one? I do.

 

[Doug]

I've just finished watching the entire video, and I have to say, this rocks! 10 years down the line, those robots will be everywhere, I predict.

 

[Beefcakes]

I'm nearly more impressed by those interactive wall things
The proverbial 'tomorrow' world is going to be so incredibly awesome, if all this stuff gets put into use
And, obviously, is still seen as awesome by myself at the time of implementation

I wants myself some of those penguins
I does, really!

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Bad Ass!

Another step closer to the future!

 

[Lord_Panzer]

That is multiple levels beyond 'awesome.'

I want one of those walls.

 

[Galletea]

Yes, yes I did say robot pengu...oh someone beat me to them huh.
But robots and penguins is cool, though I'm not sure about the shining blue eyes...creeepy.

 

[scotth266]

Alright, I want one of those air penguins. They look awesome.

But hooray for more bionics... Hopefully this leads to better robotic arms and the like.

 

[timmytom1]

Alright, I want one of those air penguins. They look awesome.

But hooray for more bionics... Hopefully this leads to better robotic arms and the like.

Who cares about robotic limbs when you can build robotic ANIMALS!!! i want to see a robotic bear next

 

[GodsAndFishes]

Those flying penguins look awesome, i can see those as the new form of transport in the future

 

[Damien the Pigeon]

I couldn't turn away. That was some of the most amazing stuff I've ever seen. I can't imagine all that I'm going to see in my lifetime.

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh dear god... They'll kill us to pieces!! [http://ferretcomic.com/archive.php?comic=346]

I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.

 

[Doug]

Those flying penguins look awesome, i can see those as the new form of transport in the future

Yes...Zeppelins

 

[killgannon]

I really want one of those penguins =D

As for those robot cubes, they look strangely familiar

http://www.geocities.com/cubiximages/cubix_title-1.jpg

 

[KDR_11k]

Robotic penguins... The only possible question is "do they run Linux?"

 

[randommaster]

Robotic penguins... The only possible question is "do they run Linux?"

I think they have gone beyond Linux to software that is distributed worldwide before it even exists.

 

[RavingPenguin]

Man I want a flying penguin now.
All the stuff in the video was awesome though.