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Archive for the ‘Robotics’ Category

New Prosthesis Recycles Energy

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

According to an article posted on Plos One, researchers Steven H. Collins (Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands) and Arthur D. Kuo (Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America) have developed a new prosthetic ankle that recycles energy through the natural gait of walking. They have mimicked the natural push-off of a human ankle and using a microprocessor to control the device, capture the energy normally dissipated by the leg. This new technology requires less than one watt. Perhaps this same technology can be used by developers of Human Exoskeletons.

New Prosthetic

Programmable Matter

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

DARPA’s “programmable matter” program aims to develop material that can be ordered to “self-assemble or alter their shape, perform a function and then disassemble themselves.” According to Henry Kenyon at Signal magazine, researchers are making some progress.

Programmable Matter

One day, that could lead to “morphing aircraft and ground vehicles, uniforms that can alter themselves to be comfortable in any climate, and ’soft’ robots that flow like mercury through small openings to enter caves and bunker complexes.” A soldier could even reach into a can of unformed goop, and order up a custom-made tool or a “universal spare part.”

One team from Harvard is working on a kind of “generalized Rubik’s Cube” that can fold into all kinds of shapes. Another is trying to order large strands of synthetic DNA to bind together in a “molecular Velcro.” An MIT group is building “self-folding origami” machines that “use specialized sheets of material with built-in actuators and data. These machines use cutting-edge mathematical theorems to fold themselves into virtually any three-dimensional object.”

The program, currently in its fifth month, is supposed to wrap up in the Spring.

Check out the entire article at Signal Magazine.

Introducing Juggernaut Defense, LLC

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Juggernaut Defense, LLC

Specializing in soldier-borne equipment design & engineering, Juggernaut Defense, LLC is a full-spectrum design consultancy dedicated to the military, law-enforcement, and public safety communities. Since 2000, Juggernaut Defense has been involved in many successful programs which have provided superior survivability, communication, and lethality systems to Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Special Operators fighting in both OIF and OEF. Juggernaut Defense (located in Scottsdale, Arizona) was spun off by Chris Stalzer in November 2008 from Juggernaut Design to focus its business toward government and military design problems.

Check out their website to learn about some of the projects they have already completed. www.juggdef.com

HULC at AUSA

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Defense News put out a great article on the new Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton from Berkely Bionics and Lockheed Martin. The HULC is designed to carry up to 200 lbs and assist the wearer with sprints of up to 10 miles an hour. Currently designed to accommodate Soldiers from 5’4″ to 6’2″ the HULC can be removed in 30 seconds and on a single charge its batteries run for 6 miles at a continuous rate of 3 miles per hour.

Big Dog Quadraped Robot

Friday, February 27th, 2009

From the Benning Report comes this look at the latest incarnation of the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) technology which was transitioned from DARPA. Manufactured by Boston Dynamics, the 220 lbs robot is designed to accompany foot Soldiers in the most arduous of terrain to bear heavy loads. The Big Dog can kneel and follow Soldiers across terrain by “feeling” the ground through sensors built into its legs.