Movie robots have come a very long way since their popular appearance in the mid 1950’s, but real robots like the ones so commonly seen today – drones, they’re everywhere, and their awesome fun to play with. Drone quadcopters and planes in the sky, drone boats and submersibles in the water, drones with wheal and now, drones that can walk.
While new types of drones come out almost daily, one in particular is raising some eyebrows with Star Wars fans. It’s a Throwable Robot Ball that unfolds legs to walk, and it looks eerily familiar to the rolling combat drones in the Star Wars movies. This little hand-help sized drone can be lobbed anywhere, and then right itself up and then walk around independent of an operator, autonomously.
Designed by Japanese engineers Takeshi Aoki, Satoshi Ito, and Yosuke Sei, this little rolling robot was showcased at the IROS 2015 in Hamburg, Germany; and this specific design has serious applications in areas such as search-and-rescue, or in wartime theatres in areas that maybe too dangerous for humans to venture, but drones and robots like this little Throwable Robot Ball could go. For Star Wars fans, imagining a life-sized rolling robot in ‘real’ life is a bit… scary.
Source – ieee.org
