DARPA Shows Silicone "Chameleon"
Not a new article, from August 16-17. Maybe it was already somewhere. But I will cite the original article in order to comment later, because such a device simply cannot fail to provoke a worthy comment and admiration for the creative flight of thought ...
Who has not heard yet about this - I ask under the cat. With a critical look, I ask you to refrain from calling - it is morning, I am writing with sarcasm and hatred.
This robot is made of silicone. He can walk, change color and glows in the dark. He may even change the temperature. And he can do all this for less than $ 100. In the future, such robots can be made for just a few dollars apiece.
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In a report on the Aug. 17th, researchers led by Dr. George Whiteside and Stephen Morin, Department of Harvard University of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Weiss’s Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering (free translation) showed that microfluidic channels of soft robots allow functions to be implemented robot movements, camouflage, image generation, fluid transport and temperature control. This work is carried out under the program DARPA "Maximum mobility and manipulation" (M3) .
Why is this important for the Ministry of Defense? DARPA plans to develop robots of various shapes and sizes to help a wide range of future missions of the Ministry of Defense, but robotics is still young and has focused most of its attention on the hardware complex (on hardware). Consequently, the costs associated with robotics are usually very high. What DARPA has achieved using a silicone base for soft robots is the development of a very low production cost method that uses different forms (silicone). By introducing narrow channels into forms through which air and various types of liquids can be pumped, the robot can be given the properties of color change, contrast, external shape and temperature, to merge with the environment, glow through chemiluminescence, and, most importantly, to bring it into action , or movement, through the transmission of pressure through the channels. The combination of low cost and increased capabilities means - DARPA removed one of the main obstacles to greater implementation of DoD technologies in robotics.
Gill Pratt , DARPA M3 program manager, described this achievement as follows: “DARPA is developing a series of robots that draw inspiration from the inventiveness and efficiency of nature. To protect applications, ingenuity and efficiency is not enough - robotic systems must also be cost-effective. This soft robot is a significant step forward in achieving all three goals. ”
In the video above, a soft robot crawls onto the gravel and uses the liquid inside to match the color of the rocks and change its shape. The robot moves at a speed of about 40 meters per hour; while using a colorless liquid, it can move at about 67 meters per hour. Future research will focus on smoothing motion, however, speed is no less important than the flexibility of a robot. Soft robots are useful because they are stable (maneuverable) and can maneuver in very tight spaces.
For this demonstration, scientists used belts (not found in the video) to separately attach the control system and the pump to create pressurized gases and liquids inside the robot. A “trailer” can reduce the size and weight of such robots, allowing the power supplies and pumps with a control board to be left outside the robot case, but in future prototypes they can incorporate this equipment into a closed system in one case. At a pumping speed of 2.25 milliliters per minute, it takes 30 seconds to change the color of the robot. After filling the robot with a colored liquid, no separate source is required to maintain color.
In addition to their potential tactical value, soft robots with microfluidic channels may also have medical applications. The device can mimic the movement of fluid vessels and muscles for realistic modeling and training, and can be used in prosthetic technology.
The first impression - I already saw it somewhere, in my childhood, in the form of a frog toy with a thin tubule and a pear at the end. You press a pear and the frog jumps forward - from the bottom of the frog it is pushed by a flat hollow sleeve spiraled into a spiral, unfolding from the air blown by the pear. Silicone is also not a new material in itself.
But impressive is the scope and pathos with which all this is described! From the words of the program manager, this is an unconditional breakthrough, owing to Matera Nature itself!
Are they really want to fight with someone all the time !? After all, this robot is not an element of protection, it is an element of hidden razvetki for the preparation of a preemptive strike, for attack.
I understand that DARPA is a military agency, and it is obliged to work for defense. But it’s bitter and insulting to me that such colossal means (I don’t know specifically how much this silicone cuttlefish cost, but probably the children of Honduras would be enough for 10 years) go into developing means of war, more and more secretive and sophisticated.
And I do not understand how such a banal silicone hydraulics device can be described in such bright and promising colors. I am ashamed of the scholars who are in the authorship of this invention and allowed him to so sanctify ... even though I understand that members of the M3 program probably don’t have to choose anything ...
Medicine, in my opinion, is the most worthy application of this technology, promising, at least. There it can save or improve life in the form of a prosthesis, and not take it away.
Good luck, DARPA! And God bless us ...
UPD: Translated your comments into English and sent to Outreach@DARPA.mil . I consider my civic duty to maintain Peace in the whole World as feasible as possible.
Who has not heard yet about this - I ask under the cat. With a critical look, I ask you to refrain from calling - it is morning, I am writing with sarcasm and hatred.
This robot is made of silicone. He can walk, change color and glows in the dark. He may even change the temperature. And he can do all this for less than $ 100. In the future, such robots can be made for just a few dollars apiece.
')
In a report on the Aug. 17th, researchers led by Dr. George Whiteside and Stephen Morin, Department of Harvard University of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Weiss’s Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering (free translation) showed that microfluidic channels of soft robots allow functions to be implemented robot movements, camouflage, image generation, fluid transport and temperature control. This work is carried out under the program DARPA "Maximum mobility and manipulation" (M3) .
Why is this important for the Ministry of Defense? DARPA plans to develop robots of various shapes and sizes to help a wide range of future missions of the Ministry of Defense, but robotics is still young and has focused most of its attention on the hardware complex (on hardware). Consequently, the costs associated with robotics are usually very high. What DARPA has achieved using a silicone base for soft robots is the development of a very low production cost method that uses different forms (silicone). By introducing narrow channels into forms through which air and various types of liquids can be pumped, the robot can be given the properties of color change, contrast, external shape and temperature, to merge with the environment, glow through chemiluminescence, and, most importantly, to bring it into action , or movement, through the transmission of pressure through the channels. The combination of low cost and increased capabilities means - DARPA removed one of the main obstacles to greater implementation of DoD technologies in robotics.
Gill Pratt , DARPA M3 program manager, described this achievement as follows: “DARPA is developing a series of robots that draw inspiration from the inventiveness and efficiency of nature. To protect applications, ingenuity and efficiency is not enough - robotic systems must also be cost-effective. This soft robot is a significant step forward in achieving all three goals. ”
In the video above, a soft robot crawls onto the gravel and uses the liquid inside to match the color of the rocks and change its shape. The robot moves at a speed of about 40 meters per hour; while using a colorless liquid, it can move at about 67 meters per hour. Future research will focus on smoothing motion, however, speed is no less important than the flexibility of a robot. Soft robots are useful because they are stable (maneuverable) and can maneuver in very tight spaces.
For this demonstration, scientists used belts (not found in the video) to separately attach the control system and the pump to create pressurized gases and liquids inside the robot. A “trailer” can reduce the size and weight of such robots, allowing the power supplies and pumps with a control board to be left outside the robot case, but in future prototypes they can incorporate this equipment into a closed system in one case. At a pumping speed of 2.25 milliliters per minute, it takes 30 seconds to change the color of the robot. After filling the robot with a colored liquid, no separate source is required to maintain color.
In addition to their potential tactical value, soft robots with microfluidic channels may also have medical applications. The device can mimic the movement of fluid vessels and muscles for realistic modeling and training, and can be used in prosthetic technology.
Comments
The first impression - I already saw it somewhere, in my childhood, in the form of a frog toy with a thin tubule and a pear at the end. You press a pear and the frog jumps forward - from the bottom of the frog it is pushed by a flat hollow sleeve spiraled into a spiral, unfolding from the air blown by the pear. Silicone is also not a new material in itself.
But impressive is the scope and pathos with which all this is described! From the words of the program manager, this is an unconditional breakthrough, owing to Matera Nature itself!
Are they really want to fight with someone all the time !? After all, this robot is not an element of protection, it is an element of hidden razvetki for the preparation of a preemptive strike, for attack.
I understand that DARPA is a military agency, and it is obliged to work for defense. But it’s bitter and insulting to me that such colossal means (I don’t know specifically how much this silicone cuttlefish cost, but probably the children of Honduras would be enough for 10 years) go into developing means of war, more and more secretive and sophisticated.
And I do not understand how such a banal silicone hydraulics device can be described in such bright and promising colors. I am ashamed of the scholars who are in the authorship of this invention and allowed him to so sanctify ... even though I understand that members of the M3 program probably don’t have to choose anything ...
Medicine, in my opinion, is the most worthy application of this technology, promising, at least. There it can save or improve life in the form of a prosthesis, and not take it away.
Good luck, DARPA! And God bless us ...
UPD: Translated your comments into English and sent to Outreach@DARPA.mil . I consider my civic duty to maintain Peace in the whole World as feasible as possible.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/150895/
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