Micro Machines - Fast Talking Spokesman not included

In Korea a research team has built a really tiny robot. This robot, with six crab legs and being no thicker than a fingernail, is powered by rat cardiomyocytes, heart cells coated over its body. When the cells contract, the legs are pulled together, and the mini-cyborg inches forward, averaging about 100uM a second and close to 50 meters in a week. The robot is fabricated the same way we mold parts for things like cars or toys, just on a very small scale.

Check out the robot walker action here.

So what's the application, eh? Theoretically one could send these tiny robots into the smallest of blood vessels and gland ducts the way we send pipeline pigs into fuel lines for maintenance and information gathering missions. The tiny cyborgs could march in and collect valuable data and perhaps in later versions, effect repairs. That's a ways off, since the robot is going to need to be sturdy enough to force its way through flowing blood, but really, at this point its only a matter of engineering, not principle.

Ripsaw Robots #5

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.

Of course, I'm a bit distracted these days by my favorite fantasy robots as the merch/media juggernaut has begun to pick up speed. The NBA playoffs are now peppered with spots of comparing Lebron's dunking to Starscream's acrobatics and Tony Parker's teardrop shot to Bonecrusher's hatred of mass transit. I'm already on the prowl for a Softimus Prime for my son's clutching hands.

I bet many of you ask on a nigh-daily basis, "Why haven't I participated in a massive she-serpent fire spectacular today?" The lotus girls of the Serpent Mother offer probably one of the most awesome displays of snakes in years. Yes, years.

I for one have always been ready to welcome our robot overlords, but I was not expecting the revolution to begin with Danish lawnbots mowing down a man.



Still, most robots would rather be lovers than fighters, yes? I still can't stop laughing at this clip.

Ripsaw Robots #4

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.


Good pal Obsequiosity brings us news of this boss motorized chair. For some reason, it seems it should come with some Ninja Turtles.

And once you've got your sitting all robotocized, it's time for a frosty libation! z4nd4r shows us how to automate your beer acquisition in several thousand difficult steps! Trust me, as someone who programs robots on a fairly regular basis, lining up the various axes and executing the proper delivery was not a simple task, but it seems the precision is superb.

We here at the Ripsaw loved the Six Million Dollar Man, so when the Segway Guy, Dean Kamen, lets us get a little closer to such an awesome reality of functional bionic limbs, we can't but help feel it's a personal fantasy. Seriously, the two things I really want to be able to do is check the internet from inside my brain and be able to drill a ball to home plate from center field in about half a second. Can we get to work on those? They're speaking my language.

Got a pigeon problem? You need robotic falcons.

Got a runny nose? Robots got that covered, too.

Still, this week we can't beat this zinger coming out of Japan. The children of the future will be raised by robot dinosaurs, will only communicate with their parents via blogs, and their best friends will be people they've seen on YouTube. If we let that happen, have the terrorists truly won?

Ripsaw Robots #3

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.


The question I get more often than anything else is "Lish, all these robots are great, but what about my personal needs?" Look no further, because now you can build your own robot slave for just a few dollars. Based on that delicious Roomba techology, you can order parts for your customized mechanical creation right from the convenience of your non-roboticized home.

Often we ask what is so cool about robots, in their silly quest to discover if they have soul. It appears that question is answered. Now that is smooth.

Of course, robots only like to play jazz when they aren't mercilessly disassembling lobsters. "Continuous Flow Stunner" sounds like a wrestler's or Dragonball Z finishing move. On the other hand, 'CrustaStun' has its own creepy appeal.

But if you can't beat them, pretend to be like them, as the adage should say. A NASA historian suggests we will eventually be a cybernetic race. I always loved the Borg when I was growing up; I found the idea of amplifying one's body with technological distinctiveness not a way to lose one's humanity but possibly the only way of reaching forward and claiming it. To be human is to aspire what's in the mind and make it reality, yes?

But at the end of the day, we still have the big questions to answer. Fortunately, it seems we can fix it with robots who drive the Ford Taurus, which should be around at least for a few years. Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law or Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Ripsaw Robots #2

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.

Alright, I spent far too much time in my chilly, chilly garage keeping my vehicles functioning in the stone cold of Winter. Perhaps I'll find some help amongst my mechanical friends!

The big news I've been scouting this week has to revolve around the developments in the flying car industry. It essentially functions like a helicopter without all the limitations of external rotor blades. Where's your flying car, you ask? Apparently it's just around the corner.

After the embarrassment of the last mission, folks at NASA are taking extra precautions with the landing site choice for the next robot to land on Mars. While robots might not count for life on Mars, it still makes an awesome movie premise.

Perhaps in the future we'll have robots park our cars in the big cities. Such technology already is getting marginal use in space-limited places like Japan. Such garages could easily maximize our ability to cram more and more people into our cities.

Got a robot you want to show off? Maybe you should send it over to the greater Frisco area for the Maker Faire. Perhaps you might get a chance to see these guys and their Star Wars inspired AT-ST lookalike. Let's hope there's no paleolithic society of advanced rodent men. They tend to shun such bold innovations.

But really, as cool as robots are, making them behave like insects is a lot harder than it sounds.

Now if we could only get a robot to change car batteries. Doing so in subzero temperatures is definitely the work for those of the cybernetic persuasion.

Ripsaw Robots #1

Ripsaw Robots will be a new feature that focuses on robotics in a very broad scope. From the useless to the revolutionary to the just plain giant and fantasy, Lish will bring you all the robot fix he can find.

The last couple days has been abuzz with China's new test of an anti-satellite weapon, which threatens to turn our atmosphere from a realm of commerce and research into an active new frontline of diplomacy and militarization. That being the case, news on NASA's new THEMIS project, set to launch next month was largely buried. The five mini-satellite's mission is to probe the elusive magenetosphere and the geomagnetic substorms that bolster the Northern Lights, a system that is poorly understood at the present date. Hopefully the Chinese don't get too triggerhappy with their new toys.

Speaking of toys, have a look at this thing, called an unicycle tank. First described in a 1933 Popular Science magazine, the monowheel device originally was designed for military use, but modern tinkerers have hit upon some more appealing uses. The monowheel rides with what appears to be simple ease, but I doubt folks are going to be trading in their Harleys anytime soon, it just doesn't have the majesty and menace of a motorcycle.

Finally, Disney has up and done it, adding robotic elements to their classic Disney heads. The end result in the context of song and stage is astonishingly realistic, you might catch yourself thinking you're watching some animation.

Robot Parade: Robots obey what the children say

Control robots with your mind.

I'm not sure I need to say anything else. That's awesome.


Runner-up - From Omni Brain: The Robot Fish.

Funky Robots

Team builds Robot Snail

This really intrigues me as this idea of locomotion is getting closer and closer to a true biomechanical style robot. Snails and other gastropods don't exactly have the most efficient means of getting around - a good 70% of their energy is put into making that slimy trail, but I guess it beats sitting in one place. I'm told the V 2.0 that's soon to be unveiled can climb walls.

NASA'a MSL Helicopter-themed

Great images, and a wild idea. Leonardo would be so proud. Hopefully this lander can overcome some of its predecessor's shortcomings. Then again, it might meet up with some Giant Fantasy Robots.

I've always loved new innovations in robots. Recent memory reminds me of 2003's KAZ, a car my brother still enjoys mocking. Still, it's these crazy robots that pave the way for great things like iPods, power steering, self-checkout and automated high-throughput robotics. We should have an army of fantasy robots, hopefully lead by a benevolent Mack Truck.