Latest news with #iCub
Mint
2 days ago
- Science
- Mint
This small robot can fly thanks to jet engines, and may one day help in emergencies or dangerous work
The robots are here and now they can fly. At the Italian Institute of Technology, engineers have built iRonCub, a robot shaped like a person (with a baby face, for some reason) that can lift off the ground with jet engines. The robot stands as tall as a child and weighs about 70 kilograms. Its face is blank and simple. The team started with detailed computer models to design iRonCub. They used a programme called PTC Creo. The design keeps changing as they test the robot in real life. The latest version is called iRonCub MK3. It has a new titanium spine and covers that protect it from heat. There are four jet engines, two on the arms and two on the back. These engines can lift the robot and keep it in the air. The exhaust from the engines gets very hot, so the team had to make sure the robot would not get damaged. There are two main versions of iRonCub. Both are based on earlier robots called iCub. The engineers use a digital model to plan and test how the robot should move. This helps them find problems before they try new ideas on the real robot. Flying is not easy for a robot with arms and legs. The team wrote software to plan how iRonCub should move when it walks or flies. They use Python for planning and C++ for running tests. The robot is controlled by a person who wears a headset and uses special equipment. The control system keeps the robot steady and safe during flight. To know where it is, iRonCub uses sensors on its body. These sensors tell the robot its position and how it is moving. The team also built a test bench to check how much thrust each engine gives. This helps them adjust the robot for better flight. The engineers use computer simulations to study how air moves around iRonCub. They also test the robot in a wind tunnel to see how it behaves in real air. This is the first time a humanoid robot has been tested like this. iRonCub is not just an experiment. The team hopes robots like this will help in disaster zones, dangerous repairs, or inspections. The project shows how robots are changing and becoming more useful in real life, with their usefulness far surpassing their potential dangers. The research on iRonCub's flight, aerodynamics, and control was published in the journal Nature Communications Engineering and is also available as a preprint on arXiv.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Flying ‘baby-faced' robot is the first of its kind — and it's freaking people out: ‘What the f—k are we doing!?'
This adolescent-looking android is the first flying humanoid robot — but the internet is creeped out by how it looks. The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) recently shared a video that updated curious viewers on the project titled iRonCub MK3's progress, but the robot's face seemed to be of special interest to the internet. 'Why does he look so freaky though,' pondered one viewer in a Reddit thread dedicated to the humanoid robot, meanwhile another wrote: 'This is very impressive, but by God, what's with that face? He is staring into my soul.' 'The technology showcased here is great, but why in the f–k does it have to look like a monster baby?' wondered another Redditor. Some viewers who stumbled across the mechanical creation happened to be especially out-of-the-box thinkers and proposed some wild theories about its appearance. 'When the uprising comes, you'll be much less likely to shoot a cyborg with a baby face,' theorized one user. 'You'll hesitate that fraction of a second, which is all it needs…' However human the robot may look, conspiracy theorists don't need to fret — it's not controlled by AI. Instead, it's teleoperated, or in other words, controlled by real people remotely. The Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence research team within the IIT works almost entirely with robotic humanoid technology — and now has five different robots, according to Live Science. This particular model is the result of two years of research, testing and development. With the jet pack, the baby robot weighs in at 154 lbs and stands about 3 feet tall. The widely reviled airborne automaton is called the iRonCub MK3, and is based on the institute's earlier humanoid robot model, the iCub. AFP via Getty Images According to the IIT, the iRonCub MK3 is being developed with 'specific applications such as disaster response' in mind. Typically, these robotic research efforts focus on land-based rescue and exploration, but the institute believes that implementing aerial locomotion skills will increase the utility and efficiency of any such endeavors. 'This research is radically different from traditional humanoid robotics and forced us to make a substantial leap forward with respect to the state of the art,' explained Daniele Pucci, one of the researchers on the team. While many internet users expressed profound confusion at the robot's uncanny childlike appearance, it turns out that some of the more humanoid features the iRonCub MK3 possesses have practical purposes. A computer modeling mockup of the flying humanoid robot. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Functional legs allow the robot to traverse terrain once it arrives via air, and realistic hand and arm capabilities let it open doors, move objects or even interact with things like switches or valves. Currently, the robot's arms have been replaced by two jet thrusters, but as the project's development continues, it will have its functional upper limbs restored. The iRonCub MK3 has been tested outdoors in a variety of situations, and has also undergone flight testing in a wind tunnel — another first for a robot. Though the majority of internet users ragged on the robot's baby face, others saw its charm. 'It's Astroboy!!' one user commented enthusiastically, while another gushed: 'Actually, it's cute.' No matter where you land on the topic of the android's appearance, don't be too mean about it — after all, this unique-looking creation could save your life someday.
