ROCR Bot Swings Up Walls Like a Monkey [Robot]

The list of places we will be able to be safe from robot attack continues to shrink, as the ROCR robot, courtesy of the University of Utah, can now efficiently scale walls. The diminutive bot can climb over six inches per second.

The ROCR is far from the first robot to tug off a wall climb, nor the fastest-but what\’s so impressive concerning the project is the little guy\’s outstanding efficiency. The ROCR is ready to attain 20% efficiency, as defined by the ratio of work done to energy consumed. This is able to sound low, but needless to say a car engine achieves around a similar score.

The team behind ROCR designed a pendulum-like tail to hurdle it up walls. As the robot\’s center of gravity shifts backwards and forwards with the weighted tail, it lets go of the outside it\’s clinging to with one of its claws, allowing it to swing upward inside the same manner as a gibbon swinging through trees.

For now, the ROCR is confined to carpeted walls, but the researchers are working on adapting it to other surfaces-while keeping efficiency as the tip design priority. And why one of these great emphasis on efficiency? \” Higher climbing efficiencies will extend the battery life of a self-contained, autonomous robot and expand the diversity of tasks the robot can perform,\” explains William Provancher assistant professor at the University of Utah and the pinnacle of the ROCR project. [Gizmag]

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This post is tagged: bot, monkey, robot, ROCR, swings, walls