We were promised golem . The future , science fiction told us , would be a world swarming with automaton thatdid all the jobs we did n’t need . But you cognize what ? Robots are really expensive and hard to build . Two MIT scientists need to exchange all that with inkjet printer and technique borrowed from origami .
MIT robotics expert Ankur Mehta and Daniela Rusrecently published a paperthat describes a system for design and edifice print - and - fold robots . That ’s 2D printing , too , not 3D printing . Their cognitive operation “ uses cheap and easily useable software package and ironware tools and bare-ass materials , making [ construction robot ] approachable to a everyday hobbyist . ” It’san almost utopian pursuance . conceive of if we could use a simple computer programme to draw out the plans for a robot that you could publish onto a thin shroud of credit card , then fold into a three - dimensional machine . Just add an locomotive engine !
In truth , it ’s slightly more complicated than that right now . Mehta and Rus ’s arrangement bet on simple Python script that automate parts of the design process . There are special glob of computer code to generate square block form and tendril embodiment and radio beam shapes . You do have to know a slight morsel about code to design an entire robot , though . This arrangement is a kickoff , though . “ To bring personalized robots into the nursing home of the general public , ” the authors compose , “ the complete design procedure need to be make over . ” And it has been .
This is only the get-go , though . Mehta and his squad were just award a $ 10 million grant from the National Science Foundation . mayhap we ’ll get that robot - powered future after all . [ MITviaInventor Spot ]
Images via MIT
DesignPrintersRobots
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and cultivation news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
