Servo - May 2015

8 SERVO 05.2015

Drag-Racing Octobot

Scientists from the University of Southampton ( www.southampton.ac.uk), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, web.mit.edu), and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology ( smart.mit.edu) recently revealed an "octopus robot" that achieves unprecedented speed and acceleration. Its physical resemblance to a real cephalopod is actually pretty iffy, as it doesn't have any arms or hearts (real ones have three) and doesn't squirt ink, but it does use the same form of propulsion.

Like the octopus, it is inflated with water which is expelled to push it along. Rather than a muscular mantle, the bot's body is made up of a thin elastic outer hull with a 3D printed skeleton. It has no moving parts; rather, it just deflates and shoots water out of its base to propel itself forward. It's basically just a water balloon with fins, but the 30 cm ( 12 in) unit can accelerate up to 10 body lengths in less than a second.

Reportedly, in a recent lab test, it accelerated a 1 kg ( 35 oz) payload up to 9. 7 kph ( 6 mph) in less than a second. Southampton calculated that this is equivalent to putting 350 kg (772 lb) into a Mini Cooper and accelerating from 0 to 97 kph ( 60 mph) in one second while submerged.

According to Dr. Gabriel Weymouth of the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute, "Man-made underwater vehicles are designed to be as streamlined as possible, but — with the exception of torpedoes which use massive amounts of propellant — none of these vehicles achieve speeds of even a single body length per second or accelerations of 0.1 g, despite significant mechanical complexity. Rigid bodies always lose energy to the surrounding water, but the rapidly shrinking form of the robot actually uses the water to help propel its ultra-fast escape, resulting in 53 percent energy efficiency, which is better than the upper estimates for fast-starting fish."

No immediately practical applications were cited, but it was suggested that it could lead to new developments where drag is a critical factor, including airplane wing design and shape-changing biological systems.

Octopus robot achieves unparalleled speed and acceleration. by Jeff and Jenn Eckert

Robytes

Robotic Valet Saves Time, Space

At least two dozen companies are in the business of manufacturing automated parking systems (APSs), which aim to provide automobile storage using less space than a standard parking garage and with better efficiency than human valets. Most APSs are not fully robotic but are basically large-scale versions of the storage and retrieval systems you might find in any automated warehouse. An exception is Ray™— a highly sophisticated system from Serva Transport Systems GmbH ( serva-ts.de). The first Ray installation was put into operation at the Dusseldorf Airport last year, where it is allotted 249 dedicated parking spaces. Reportedly, Ray can park cars 60 percent faster than a human driver using half the space, and costs only $5.50 per hour to operate.

Ray is more properly described as an automated guided vehicle (AGV) that — when you reduce it to the lowest common denominator — is a highly enhanced robotic forklift. Enhancements include a 360° camera system that measures the car and any protrusions (thus determining how large a space it needs), documents any existing damage (can't forget about lawyers), and checks the license plate to identify registered users.

Ray can move along at up to 3 mps ( 10 mph) while carrying a three ton auto. It's powered by a 48V lithium-ion battery, so if the grid goes down you can still get your car back. You can even use a smartphone app to make arrangements and — if the return flight is delayed — let Ray know that you'll be late. It's a bit more expensive than self-parking, but if you're in a hurry, $40 per day (or $5.50 per hour) may not seem so bad. Serva mentioned that more installations are slated for 2015, but didn't specify where.