Ballbot by CMU Ralph Hollis

Multi-wheel statically-stable mobile robots tall enough to interact meaningfully with people must have low centers of gravity, wide bases of support, and low accelerations to avoid tipping over. Ralph Hollis is currently pioneering new types of robots that can rotate on a single point. More information can be found here.

Modular Snake Robot Prototypes by CMU

This is a demonstration of how the snake can inspect weld joints.

MicroFactory

Great student project for creating new manufacturing robot that can be used in a local environment.

Amazing SpiderBot Prototype by Dr. Amir Shapiro

An interesting video from the Ben Gurion University Deparment of Mechanical Engineering Robotics Lab. It shows an “underconstrained cable suspended robot capable of maneuvering from one stance space to another by clinging to new contact points.” The robot actually shoots “webs” like Spiderman that adhere to surfaces and allow the robot to move around while suspended. There’s not a lot of information to be found but what we do know is that the researchers are interested in motion planning. Among the researchers credited in the video are Dr. Amir Shapiro, Alon Capua, Yoav Tov, and Nati Michaeli.

Swarm-like Printing Machines by Mark Bearak

Interesting swarm-like printing machines developed by Mark Bearak at Columbia School of Architecture taught by Francois Roche. Website describing the project can be found here.

Robot Ecologies by Jason Johnson

Great reel showing the student work from Robotic Ecologies Seminar 2008 taught by Jason Johnson. More work can be found on his website.

Spatial Robot Prototypes by Miles Kemp

Nano Meta-morphic Architecture consists of a palette of small-scale self-similar robotic modules that have the ability to dynamically move and attach to other modules to create different configurations in real-time. Each module has a different material on its exterior, various hardware (sensors, accelerometers, computation and kinetics) and computational logic to enable it to interpret and physically respond to different local and global inputs. Inhabitants can use hundreds of thousands of these modules to create and recreate dynamic real-time formations. This project included the design of the overall geometry, logic and behavior of the modules as well as the creation and development of fully working prototypes. Project link at Series Design/Build and Variate Labs.

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CirculaFloor Robotic VR Movement

CirculaFloor is a locomotion interface using a group of movable tiles. The movable tiles employ holonomic mechanism that achieves omni-directional motion. Circulation of the tiles enables the user to walk in virtual environment while his/her position is maintained. The user can walk in arbitrary direction in virtual environment.   This project is a joint research with ATR Media Information Science Labs. Learn more at the website.