Servo - November 2010

www.servomagazine.com/index.php?/magazine/article/november2010_Robytes

2010 Berlin Air Show. The robotic trainer is based on the KUKA robot type KR 500 TÜV, which was further developed for motion simulation by the Planck Institute. Attached to the six-axis, heavy-duty bot is a Buimbal Cabri G2 helicopter cell which has space for two people who can learn realistic helicopter maneuvers in an “original” cockpit. According to a Planck rep, “With the Heli Trainer, a pilot trainee requires less time to develop a feel for movements, understands the consequences of his flight control actions better, and learns maneuvers in a safe environment with a steeper learning curve.” It also looks like a lot of fun.

Bot Bound for Tranquility

3Model of the Astrobotic Red Rover lunar bot.

It’s been more than 40 years since a human being walked in the lunar Sea of Tranquility, and it’s likely to stay that way for some time. However, Carnegie Mellon spinoff Astrobotic Technology ( www.astrobotictech.com) is scheduled to drop in a rover in April 2013 to revisit the landing site vicariously. In addition to the thrill of the challenge, the company has plenty of incentive: NASA has offered to pay up to $10 million for data collected during a commercial lunar mission, and Google is offering $20 million as its Lunar X prize for the first team to land a robot on the moon that (a) travels more than 500 m (1,640 ft) and (b) sends back high-def images and video. There is also an additional $5 million up for grabs if the bot performs some other tricks such as traveling more than 5,000 m ( 3 mi), detecting ice in a crater, surviving a lunar night, and so forth. In addition, the State of Florida is kicking in $2 million for the privilege of providing the launch site, and Caterpillar is providing both financial and technical support. The “Tranquility Trek” mission will star Astrobotic’s Red Rover vehicle which weighs in at 160 lb ( 72. 6 kg) and stands about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall. Part 1 of the mission will last 10 to 12 days, until sunset cuts off the rover’s power. It will then hibernate as temperatures drop to nearly -300°F (-149°C). If it survives it will wake up at sunrise which is about two weeks later and continue its mission. For details and vids, visit astrobotic.net/activities.

Robotic Publisher Changing Industry

If you enjoy dropping into your local Barnes & Noble, sipping some overpriced coffee, and nibbling on a macadamia nut/chocolate chip cookie while you leisurely browse through prospective book purchases, you may be disappointed as such behemoth bookstores are gradually being replaced by little robotic book huts with — if you’re lucky — coffee and snack machines. A robotic book factory — ironically called the Espresso Book Machine — has been unleashed by On Demand Books ( www.ondemandbooks.com) and is functioning in “dozens of locations worldwide” with more locations coming soon. Basically what we’re talking about is a machine that automatically prints, binds, and trims a book at the point of sale, generating perfect-bound, library-quality books within a few minutes. For example, a 300 page book can be spit out in about four minutes with a consumables cost of about a penny per page. It can handle books in the range of 40 to 830 pages using letter-size or tabloid coverstock, toner, ink, and glue. The covers are full color and said to be indistinguishable from books produced by traditional processes. In addition, using the “EspressNet” network, each machine can access more than a million copyrighted titles from some 6,500 publishers, and three million more public domain titles via Google Books and other sources. The main obstacle seems to be the price which will run you just under $100,000, which doesn’t even include the compatible Xerox 4112 or Kyocera FS-9530DN printers. Still, it ain’t cheap to maintain the average B&N which sits on 25,000 square feet and carries up to 200,000 titles, so economic considerations may make the device practical for educational institutions and libraries, small bookstores, and other locations. SV