Start your spring cleaning with this robot vacuum — on sale for just $40
For an easy and efficient way to keep your hard floors spotless, snag this robot vacuum cleaner while it's on sale.
31 March, 2021
- There are convenient ways to start your spring cleaning without lifting a finger.
- For an easy and efficient way to keep your space spotless, upgrade to a robot vacuum cleaner.
- The Hard Wood & Tile Cleaning Robot Vacuum is only $39.95, which is a 69% drop from its regular price of $129.
<p>Dust, dirt, and everything else has a way of building up — especially if you have pets. If you're still plugging in and lugging your vacuum around to clean things up, it's no secret that there's a better way. Upgrade to this <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum&utm_term=scsf-484136&utm_content=a0x1P000004epbPQAQ&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hard Wood & Tile Cleaning Robot Vacuum</a> for more convenient and efficient cleaning.</p><p>Unlike the Roomba or other competing devices on the market, this vacuum cleaner works for any budget. But that doesn't mean it sacrifices quality. It features a 1,600Pa suction, two side brushes, and a double-layer turbofan that work together to clean anything in its way.</p><p>Additionally, the vacuum is multi-functional and has different types of useful cleaning modes. You won't have to worry about constantly dumping things out either, as it has a larger-than-average dust bin. As far as battery life goes, it automatically knows to recharge itself when its power goes as low as 20 percent. That means even less stress for you.</p><p>One thing to note: This vacuum cleaner only works on smooth surfaces and doesn't clean carpeted surfaces. However, it does have an ultra-thin body that allows it to easily get under beds and sofas for a deeper, reliable clean.</p><div data-react-checksum="-131065524" data-reactid="1" data-reactroot="" style="position: relative;">
<div data-reactid="3" style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 35px 10px 35px 35px; text-decoration: none; display: flex; align-items: center;">
<div data-reactid="4" style="flex: 30%;"><img data-reactid="5" src="https://cdnp3.stackassets.com/7dce62792ed74e6899a44d3eb2884a4b82c714a9/store/831440d456ac1164bbb3d2bcf0efe9ec1fa4e895ca78d40b16a1b13be795/sale_164311_primary_image.jpg"></div>
<div data-reactid="6" style="padding-left: 2.5vw; flex: 70%; justify-content: space-between;">
<div data-reactid="7"><strong data-reactid="8">Hard Wood & Tile Cleaning Robot Vacuum - $39.95</strong><br data-reactid="9"><br data-reactid="10"><a data-reactid="11" href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral-cta&utm_campaign=floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum&utm_term=scsf-484136&utm_content=a0x1P000004epbPQAQ&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">See Deal</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div><p>The <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=floor-cleaning-robot-vacuum&utm_term=scsf-484136&utm_content=a0x1P000004epbPQAQ&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Floor Cleaning Robot Vacuum</a> is an incredible value that's priced at an extra-low $39.95. That's nearly a 70% markdown from its original value of $129. Stop making cleaning difficult for yourself. Start your spring cleaning without lifting a finger by snagging this robot vacuum before it sells out.</p><p><em>Prices subject to change.</em></p><p><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Cornell creates the world’s tiniest self-folding origami bird
The bird demonstrates cutting-edge technology for devising self-folding nanoscale robots.
18 March, 2021
Credit: Cornell University
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
<p>Cornell University has just announced what may be the smallest origami bird ever folded. While a typical origami animal is the product of an artist's dexterous hands, the Cornell bird was folded by the strategic application of small electrical voltages. It had to be: The material of which the bird is comprised is just 30 atoms thick.</p><p>Creative expression isn't the point of the university's little avian — its construction previews principles and techniques that will lead to new generations of moving, nano-scaled robots that "can enable smart material design and interaction with the molecular biological world," <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/03/self-folding-nanotech-creates-worlds-smallest-origami-bird" target="_blank">says</a> Dean Culver of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory, which supported the research.</p><p>According to Cornell's <a href="https://physics.cornell.edu/paul-mceuen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paul McEuen</a>, "We humans, our defining characteristic is we've learned how to build complex systems and machines at human scales, and at enormous scales as well. But what we haven't learned how to do is build machines at tiny scales. And this is a step in that basic, fundamental evolution in what humans can do, of learning how to construct machines that are as small as cells."</p><p>The lead author of the paper describing the tiny bird is postdoctoral researcher <a href="http://cohengroup.lassp.cornell.edu/people/qingkun-liu" target="_blank">Qingkun Liu</a>. The <a href="https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/6/52/eabe6663" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paper</a>, "Micrometer-Sized Electrically Programmable Shape Memory Actuators for Low-Power Microrobotics," is the cover story of the March 17 issue of the journal Science Robotics. </p>
A minuscule swarm of helpers
<p>The project is the result of a collaboration between physical scientist McEeuen and physicist <a href="http://physics.cornell.edu/itai-cohen" target="_blank">Itai Cohen</a>, both of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences. It's already resulted in a (very) small herd of nanoscale machines and devices.</p><p>Cohen explains, "We want to have robots that are microscopic but have brains on board. So that means you need to have appendages that are driven by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors, basically a computer chip on a robot that's 100 microns on a side."</p><p>The idea is that these minuscule workhorses—a metaphor, no nanoscale origami horses yet exist—are released from a wafer, fold themselves into the desired form factor, and then go on about their business. Additional folding would endow them with motion as they work, change shapes to move their limbs and manipulate microscopic objects. The researchers anticipate that these nanobots will eventually be able to achieve similar functionality to their larger brethren.</p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTg0ODQ0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODQzODk3OH0.vU41E6iQJPM7EO7uoNz8EiXL9Jj7De7Yqwv-Em-otZQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="55c93" width="1440" height="810" data-rm-shortcode-id="89ab19e036c9c02cb9a9e6beeac072dc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Credit: nobeastsofierce/Adobe Stock
How a tiny robot is made and works
<p>The project combines materials science with chemistry, since the folding is achieved with the strategic deployment of electrochemical reactions. Liu explains, "At this small scale, it's not like traditional mechanical engineering, but rather chemistry, material science, and mechanical engineering all mixed together."</p><p>"The hard part," says Cohen, "is making the materials that respond to the CMOS circuits. And this is what Qingkun and his colleagues have done with this shape memory actuator that you can drive with voltage and make it hold a bent shape."</p><p>The bots are constructed from a nanometer-thick platinum layer that's coated with a titanium oxide film. Rigid panels of silicon oxide glass are affixed to the platinum. A positive voltage creates oxidation, forcing oxygen atoms into the platinum seams between the glass panels, and forcing platinum atoms out. This causes the platinum to expand, which bends the entire glass-platinum structure to a desired angle.</p><p>Because the oxygen atoms collect to form a barrier, a bend is retained even after the charge is switched off. To undo a fold, a negative charge can be applied that removes the oxygen atoms from the seam, allowing it to relax and unbend. </p><p>This all happens very quickly — a machine can fold itself within just 100 milliseconds. The process is also repeatable. The team reports that a bot can flatten and refold itself thousands of times, and all it takes is a single volt of electricity.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d392e28ae813b4ef74dc1cce6a4654a2"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nNn4Lpd4uBM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>Artistry after all
<p>None of this really removes what one might consider the artistry. Working out how and where to apply voltages to effect the desired shape is not a simple thing to do. McEuen says, "One thing that's quite remarkable is that these little tiny layers are only about 30 atoms thick, compared to a sheet of paper, which might be 100,000 atoms thick. So it's an enormous engineering challenge to figure out how to make something like that have the kind of functionalities we want."</p><p>Still, the group is getting quite good at microscopic robotics, and has already been awarded the <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/634629-smallest-walking-robot" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Guinness World Record</a> for assembling the smallest-ever walking robot. The little 4-legged dude is 40 microns wide and between 40 and 70 microns long. They're angling for a new record with their 60-micron-wide origami bird.</p><p>Says Cohen, "These are major advances over current state-of-the-art devices. We're really in a class of our own."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Dyson spheres: The key to resurrection and immortality?
Creating an afterlife—or a simulation of one—would take vast amounts of energy. Some scientists think the best way to capture that energy is by building megastructures around stars.
15 March, 2021
Credit: Kevin Gill via Flickr
- In a 2018 paper, researchers Alexey Turchin and Maxim Chernyakov published a paper outlining various ways humans might someday be able to achieve immortality or resurrection.
- One way involves creating a simulated afterlife, in which artificial intelligence would build simulations of past human lives.
- Getting the necessary power for the simulation might require building a Dyson sphere, which is a theoretical megastructure that orbits a star and captures its energy.
<p>Is there an afterlife?<br></p><p>Despite centuries of inquiry, nobody's made progress on this fundamental question, and perhaps nobody ever will. So, maybe a better question is: Can humans <em>create</em> an afterlife? </p><p>Some scientists think so.</p><p>In 2018, Alexey Turchin and Maxim Chernyakov, both members of the Russian Transhumanist Movement, wrote a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36998733/Classification_of_the_approaches_to_the_technological_resurrection" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paper</a> outlining the main ways science might someday make immortality and resurrection possible. Called the "Immortality Roadmap," the project describes the ways people might be able to extend lifespan or live forever, from using cryonics to freeze themselves, to constructing nanobots for "treatment of injuries and cell cyborgization."</p><p>But the Immortality Roadmap mentions one particularly grandiose road to immortality. Outlined in "Plan C" of the project, the idea is to create a simulation of humanity's past through artificial intelligence that's able to digitally reconstruct people. </p><p>The AI would use DNA and other information about individuals to create models of those individuals within a simulation, allowing recently deceased people to experience another chance at life — or, at least an approximation of life.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The main idea of a resurrection-simulation is that if one takes the DNA of a past person and subjects it to the same developmental condition, as well as correcting the development based on some known outcomes, it is possible to create a model of a past person which is very close to the original," the researchers wrote.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"DNA samples of most people who lived in past 1 to 2 centuries could be extracted via global archeology. After the moment of death, the simulated person is moved into some form of the afterlife, perhaps similar to his religious expectations, where he meets his relatives."</p><p><span></span>But would that digital copy really be <em>you, </em>or rather a fundamentally different digital being that resembles you? What about the other "people" that inhabit the simulation, would they be "real"? And would people actually want to repeat their lives over again, perhaps forever?</p><p>Of course, these are questions that Immortality Roadmap can't answer. But what's clear is that, if technology ever becomes able to create a "resurrection simulation," it's going to require vast amounts of computing power — far more than what currently exists on Earth. That's where Dyson spheres come into play.</p>
Dyson spheres
<p>In 1960, the theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson published a <a href="http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM" target="_blank">paper</a> describing a peculiar strategy scientists could use to detect signs of alien life: look for stars encompassed by gigantic megastructures.<br></p><p>Why? Dyson figured that if spacefaring alien civilizations do exist, then they must have figured out a way to generate vast amounts of energy. One theoretical way aliens could do that is through harnessing the power of stars: By surrounding a star with orbiting structures that capture solar energy, a civilization could theoretically generate far more energy than they could on a planet.</p><p>That's the basic idea behind Dyson spheres. Of course, modern science is far from being able to build such a complex megastructure, and it's unclear whether it'll ever be possible.</p><p>"An actual sphere around the sun is completely impractical," <a href="http://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/about/staff/" target="_blank">Stuart Armstrong</a>, a research fellow at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute who has studied megastructure concepts, <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a11098/dyson-sphere/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told Popular Mechanics</a> in 2020.</p><p>There are many questions about and arguments against the feasibility of Dyson spheres. Obviously, our modern engineering capabilities wouldn't enable us to build a structure that big and complex, and then transport it to the sun. And even if engineers <em>could</em> build an enormous sun shell, we don't have materials with enough tensile strength to hold together the structure once it's surrounding the sun.</p><p>Other potential problems: space debris colliding with the sphere, inefficiencies in transporting the energy back to Earth, and having to perform maintenance on a megastructure that's dangerously close to the sun. In short, the Dyson sphere is a very theoretical concept.</p><img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTgyODg0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTI4MTUzMH0.87r-CKohrvgC1fwUVGLrOZtn77PBT9bW2U9r9ayTR18/img.jpg?width=980"
id="9b499"
width="8000"
height="6000"
data-rm-shortcode-id="bb16afc8a7cde84ce2fce4bbb769cb80" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Dyson sphere" />
Dyson sphere
Credit: vexworldwide via Adobe Stock
<p>But some people think building a Dyson sphere is more feasible than it seems. In 2012, the bioethicist and transhumanist George Dvorsky published a blog post titled <a href="http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2012/03/how-to-build-dyson-sphere-in-five.html" target="_blank">"How to build a Dyson sphere in five (relatively) easy steps."</a> His strategy, in short, calls for sending autonomous robots into space, where they would:</p><ol><li>Get energy</li><li>Mine Mercury</li><li>Get materials into orbit</li><li>Make solar collectors</li><li>Extract energy</li></ol><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The idea is to build the entire swarm in iterative steps and not all at once. We would only need to build a small section of the Dyson sphere to provide the energy requirements for the rest of the project. Thus, construction efficiency will increase over time as the project progresses," Dvorsky wrote.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We're going to have to mine materials from Mercury. Actually, we'll likely have to take the whole planet apart. The Dyson sphere will require a horrendous amount of material—so much so, in fact, that, should we want to completely envelope the sun, we are going to have to disassemble not just Mercury, but Venus, some of the outer planets, and any nearby asteroids as well."</p><img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTgyODg1NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM1MDEwNX0.LXa2PCJ_YGOzZ2Ne9C-Sl2B8hH98Jv2Ggh1-i0TRpEo/img.png?width=980"
id="74b71"
width="768"
height="890"
data-rm-shortcode-id="b85ec71260f7edac092d54f9bdab64a4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Credit: ALEXEY TURCHIN
<p>Turchin <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a35788050/dyson-sphere-digital-resurrection-immortality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">echoed</a> a similar idea to Popular Mechanics, acknowledging that while humans currently can't build a Dyson sphere, "nanorobots could do it."</p><p>Still, even if scientists someday manage to create a Dyson sphere that's able to power a resurrection simulation, there's a good chance many people won't take part: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/may/16/dying-still-taboo-subject-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Surveys</a> <a href="https://quillette.com/2018/03/02/would-you-opt-for-immortality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutesvanity-fair-poll-the-afterlife/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">show</a> that most people would not opt to live forever if given the choice.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Introduce your child to the world of STEM with these DIY projects
These DIY learning kits focus on topics like coding, robotics, and AI, and are on sale for as low as $41.99.
24 February, 2021
Photo by Igor Starkov on Unsplash
- If you want your kids to learn and play at the same time, introduce them to the world of STEM and robotics.
- Starting as young as age five, STEM projects can increase a child's overall knowledge and critical thinking skills.
- These DIY learning kits for all ages focus on STEM topics like coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence, and are on sale for as low as $41.99.
<p>Sparking your child's curiosity, especially during an ongoing pandemic, is no easy feat. Instead of putting them in front of a screen, yet again, try opening their minds to the exciting world of <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/best-science-books-of-2020" rel="noopener" target="_blank">STEM</a> through these <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/robotic-art-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=robotic-art-kit&utm_term=scsf-477923&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY learning kits</a>, which focus on <a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/code-is-not-a-language" rel="noopener" target="_blank">coding</a>, robotics, and <a href="https://bigthink.com/technology-innovation/10-ways-prepare-intelligent-machines-mit-study" rel="noopener" target="_blank">artificial intelligence</a>. </p><p>These educational kits, designed for kids as young as five years old, offer sample projects that will encourage them to develop and design. Every project is compatible with your little one's ever-growing collection of LEGOs, so the building process is just as fun as it is educational.</p><p>There's a specific <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/coding-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=coding-kit&utm_term=scsf-477033&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Coding Kit</a> available that will help your 9- to 12-year-old develop the fundamentals of coding and programming. Following that, you can introduce your young one to robotics via this <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/curiosity-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=curiosity-kit&utm_term=scsf-477924&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Robotic Curiosity Kit</a> (ages 7 to 10) and <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/robotic-art-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=robotic-art-kit&utm_term=scsf-477923&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Robotic Art Kit</a> (ages 5 to 8) that also come with an accompanying app to guide you. </p><p>For kids with a specific interest in cars, turn to the <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/autonomous-vehicle-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=autonomous-vehicle-kit&utm_term=scsf-477922&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Autonomous Vehicle Kit</a> — made for children ages 8 to 13. It explores artificial intelligence and self-driving technologies that we guarantee you, as a parent, will find just as fascinating as your kid.</p><p>The best part about it all? All these kits have been marked down up to 40%. You can get the <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/coding-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=coding-kit&utm_term=scsf-477033&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Coding Kit</a> for only $65.99 (regularly $99) for a limited time. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/curiosity-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=curiosity-kit&utm_term=scsf-477924&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Robotic Curiosity Kit</a> and <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/robotic-art-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=robotic-art-kit&utm_term=scsf-477923&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Robotic Art Kit</a> are selling for $70.99 (regularly $119) and $41.99 (regularly $69), respectively. Finally, the <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/autonomous-vehicle-kit?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=autonomous-vehicle-kit&utm_term=scsf-477922&utm_content=a0x1P000004eO9mQAE&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">DIY Autonomous Vehicle Kit</a> is marked down to just $224.99 (regularly $249). </p><p><em>Prices subject to change.</em></p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
(s[r].q=s[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},s[r].l=1*new Date();i=o.createElement(n),
z=o.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];i.async=1;i.src=a;z.parentNode.insertBefore(i,z)
})(window,document,'script','https://www.stack-sonar.com/ping.js','stackSonar');
stackSonar('stack-connect-p', '393');
</script><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p><em><em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em></em></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Meet the robot 'dog' NASA is sending to Mars
Boston Dynamics' notorious robot goes on an interplanetary mission.
28 December, 2020
Credit: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announces the deployment of a robotic "dog" for Mars exploration.
- The robot is a modified Boston Dynamics cyberdog familiar to the internet from YouTube videos over the last few years.
- The bot will be autonomous and smart enough to explore Martian caves that may one day provide shelter for human visitors to the Red Planet.
<p>While Mars rovers have been and are unquestionably amazing, they're not the most adaptable or speedy little bots. Curiosity, for example, rolls across flat-ish parts of the Red Planet's surface at a decidedly un-blistering .09 miles per hour. That's about a third as fast as most people walk.</p><p>At the December 14, 2020 meeting of American Geophysical Union (AGU), held online this year, NASA/JPL-Caltech announced a new family of robotic explorers referred to as "Mars Dogs."</p><p>They're calling it "Au-Spot," and it's based on Boston Dynamics' infamous Spot robot that we've been seeing evolve over the last few years in YouTube videos. We've watched it survive <a href="https://youtu.be/RaHIGkhslNA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">falling down and getting kicked</a>, and we've even seen it <a href="https://youtu.be/kHBcVlqpvZ8" target="_blank">dance to "Uptown Funk."</a> Spot has already evoked all kinds of emotions. It's creepy enough to drive an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalhead_(Black_Mirror)" target="_blank">episode</a> of "Black Mirror," and even without a face—or head—it's also somehow oddly endearing.<span></span></p>
Spot on
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="acc5f46ac886fe2aa242921be703211a"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wlkCQXHEgjA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>In a way, it's the abuse we've seen Spot suffer on YouTube that makes it such an ideal candidate for Mars missions. If Au-Spot falls over, it can right itself, a not insignificant capability when exploring alien terrain—it's one of the current rovers' most significant shortcomings. "Toppling does not mean mission failure," <a href="https://www.livescience.com/agu-mars-robot-dogs.html" target="_blank">noted the scientists</a> introducing the bot. "Using recovery algorithms, the robot can self-right from a multitude of falls."</p><p>The 70-pound Au-Spot is also capable of moving three times faster than existing rovers. </p><p>This means that Au-Spot will be ideal for exploring Martian caves, an area of great interest to those planning future manned missions to the planet. Satellite images of the red planet have revealed <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/center-news/caves-mars" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">over 1,000 potential cave openings</a> already. It may be possible on such journeys for humans to shelter in caves away from the planet's brutal dusts storms, extreme cold, and punishing UV radiation. These places, however, are not places into which current rovers can be sent.</p><p>On the other hand, Au-Spot's remarkable flexibility and smarts will allow Earth-bound scientists to see if the caves can really be of use to future astronauts. The bot pup can get down into such caves and then get itself back out. While there, it can produce 3D maps of the terrain thanks to onboard LIDAR. Built-in AI allows the bot to learn the terrain too, so it can avoid entrapment or damage from collisions with obstacles. It strategically deploys communications modules along the way to keep its command personnel appraised of what it's doing when it's beneath the surface.</p><p>Au-Spot can even intelligently choose between multiple pathways forward, making it a far more flexible tool than current rovers. Most things that rovers do are pre-programmed routines—improvisation requires communicating with a <a href="https://medium.com/predict/how-to-drive-a-mars-rover-6f0870b0c8e1" target="_blank">human controller</a> back on Earth some 22 minutes away as the signal flies.</p>The rise of Au-Spot
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="08e4cc57d1215ed249ac5adab6935744"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VitjPLRdY8g?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Au-Spot is the child of a team of 60 scientists and engineers working together as <a href="https://costar.jpl.nasa.gov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CoSTAR</a>, or the Collaborative SubTerranean Autonomous Resilient Robots. They've customized a factory-fresh Spot, outfitting it with the <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.09259.pdf" target="_blank">NeBula</a> (Networked Belief-aware Perceptual Autonomy) system that makes it autonomous enough to successfully navigate new environments, as shown in the DARPA Subterranean Robotics Challenge video above.</p><p>To get Au-Spot mission-ready, the CoSTAR team is putting it through its paces here on Earth. In addition to sending it up and down staircases and such, it's gone on field trips to Northern California's Tulelake lava tubes for some practice on Mars-like terrain and some cave exploration as well. </p><p>At the presentation, the CoSTAR scientists predicted, "These behaviors could one day enable revolutionary scientific missions to take place on the Martian surface and subsurface, thereby pushing the boundaries of NASA's capability in exploring traditionally inaccessible sites."</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
