The rise of the robo-fighters: Britain's new pilotless air force. By Rob Waugh UPDATED: 07:15 GMT, 5 May 2010 The Mantis can fly for 24 hours without refuelling, do the surveillance job of four helicopters, acquire its own enemy targets and deliver a deadly payload - all without a pilot and crew. But should we be afraid of Britain's new robotic air force?
The Mantis carries no human crew. The plane is controlled by a set of computer components not that far removed from the chips and boards inside a high-end personal laptop The aircraft is the size of a medium range bomber, with huge grey wings stretching 70ft across the hangar. It looks for all the world like any conventional aircraft - the wings, the nose, the wheels are all familiar. Other racks on the nose can carry surveillance equipment so advanced it can decrypt and listen to mobile phone messages instantly as it flies over, at heights of up to 60,000ft. The Mantis carries no human crew - one of the reasons it can stay airborne for 24 hours. The Mantis on the runway Mantis isn't a 'drone'. Loja Robotica UK. Big Trak. A U.K. BigTrak BIG TRAK / bigtrak is a programmable electric vehicle created by Milton Bradley in 1979, resembling a futuristic Sci-Fi tank / utility vehicle, possibly for use on the Moon or a Planetoid style environment.[1] The original Big Trak was a six-wheeled (two-wheel drive) tank with a front-mounted blue "photon beam" headlamp, and a keypad on top.
The toy could remember up to 16 commands, which it then executes in sequence. There is also an optional cargo trailer accessory, with the U.K. version being white to match its colour scheme; once hooked to the Bigtrak, this trailer could be programmed to dump its payload. In 2010, BIG TRAK was relaunched in the form of a slightly modified replica (cosmetically very similar to the original U.K. bigtrak), produced under licence by Zeon Ltd.
Versions[edit] The original Milton Bradley U.S. and U.K. versions[edit] U.K. version of the keypad The U.S. and U.K. The U.S. version had Revision C, D, and E motherboards. Elektronika IM-11 Power[edit] Turtle (robot) Turtles are a class of educational robots designed originally in the late 1940s (largely under the auspices of researcher William Grey Walter) and used in computer science and mechanical engineering training. These devices are traditionally built low to the ground with a roughly hemispheric (sometimes transparent) shell and a power train capable of a very small turning radius. The robots are often equipped with sensor devices which aid in avoiding obstacles and, if the robot is sufficiently sophisticated, allow it some perception of its environment.
Turtle robots are commercially available and are common projects for robotics hobbyists. The Valiant Turtle was sold from 1983 to 2011. Jump up ^ LOGO Frequently asked Questions (FAQ): What was the genesis of Logo? Robo Spiders Are Multilegged Mechanical Marvels | Gadget Lab. Do we need an excuse to show you a gallery of the most amazing, mind-bending mechanical spiders ever to emerge from the fevered brains of roboticists? No, we do not. Something about multilegged creatures just seems to fire the imagination of robot builders. Their stability, agility and — let’s face it — creepiness are hard to match.
They’re fast, resilient and occasionally cute. The amazing thing is how many people seem to be building multilegged robots lately, from NASA to British defense firms to French performance artists. Technically, not all of these are spiders. On to the spider robots. Above: Ironically dubbed “La Princesse,” this 50-foot spider bot roamed the streets of Liverpool in 2008. Photo: Matthew Andrews. Novo nivel de Esportes. Photo: Gabriela Hasbun It’s great to see a startup hiring laid-off autoworkers — even if they aren’t human. Jeff Linnell (center) recently picked up three Fanuc s430iL industrial robots at fire-sale prices and reprogrammed them for jobs in TV advertising. Seems that the autobots (nicknamed Puck, Gilda, and Rosie) had transferable skills.
Linnell’s production company, Autofuss, makes commercials that call for a lot of crane and dolly shots. Getting them up and running wasn’t easy — the machines didn’t come with instruction manuals. Vital Stats Height: 7.3 feet Weight: 2,866 pounds Payload capacity: 275 pounds Arm reach: 9.8 feet Max horizontal range of motion: 19.7 feet Max speed: 2 meters/second Accuracy: +/- 0.3 millimeters Robot illustration: Kate Francis Watch video from Puck, Gilda, and Rosie’s first gig: a Louis Vuitton ad featuring Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, and Jim Lovell.