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Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Wed Aug 18, 2004 02:00 PM
from the not-strong-enough-to-fetch-me-beer dept.
from the not-strong-enough-to-fetch-me-beer dept.
fraxinus-tree writes "Epson has developed a very small (8.6g w/o battery) flying device, something like a bluetooth-controled palm-top helicopter." Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.
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Not what I had in mind (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Not what I had in mind (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Not what I had in mind (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Can carry a spare battery! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Can carry a spare battery! (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Can carry a spare battery! (Score:5, Interesting)
Fill up just a bit for short flights, or fill up to max. for longer fun.
Parent
Re:Can carry a spare battery! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Solar power? (Score:3, Interesting)
TERRORISM (Score:4, Funny)
Re:TERRORISM (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:TERRORISM (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:TERRORISM (Score:5, Funny)
Switch to close-up of the eeevile chopper about to make its attack run.
Suddenly, the chopper swoops in with death defying speed!
Closer and closer it gets to the building! We see the people inside running in terror as they notice the chopper!
The chopper closes the distance, readies itself for impact, and...
Bounces off harmlessly.
Guess they should have built it a bit bigger, huh?
Parent
5 grams for three minutes? (Score:5, Funny)
Faked? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's almost as if she wasn't seeing the item flying in front of her. I felt like I was watching a poorly done movie + animated character sequence.
I don't doubt this item exists but I do have serious doubts about the origin of the video provided.
Apparently it crashes into things: (Score:4, Informative)
In Wednesday's demonstration at the company's Tokyo office, the Micro Flying Robot barely managed to get off the ground by a couple of metres and crashed off a table at one point.
The Globe article does have a picture of it hovering in front of some guy's face, however!
Parent
Re:Faked? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Faked? (Score:4, Interesting)
And if you've ever tried to learn how to hover a fixed pitch micro helicopter, you'll swear to god that there's a demon yanking on it with a string. Further, fixed pitch helicopters get harder and harder to fly the smaller they get, so I'm not suprised that hover isn't completely smooth, even in a controlled environment.
As someone who owns and flies a micro-helicopter that's a bit bigger still, the video looked completely credible and believable. It looked like my copter did when I was learning to hover.
Regards,
Ross
Parent
Practical uses (Score:3, Funny)
Page broken in Firefox (Score:5, Informative)
Epson has long been engaged in the research and development of microrobots and in the development of applications for their enabling technologies. The FR-II is only the latest chapter in an Epson success story that began with Monsieur, a microrobot that was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest microrobot and was put on sale in 1993. Having made micromechatronics one of its core technologies, the company has since created and marketed several more microrobots in the EMRoS series*3. April 2003 saw the introduction of the Monsieur II-P, a prototype microrobot that operates on the world's thinnest microactuator (an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor)*4 and is remote-controllable via a power-saving Bluetooth module. The following November, Epson unveiled the prototype micro-flying robot FR, which featured two ultra-thin, ultrasonic motors driving two contra-rotating propellers for levitation, plus the world's first*5 linear actuator stabilizing mechanism for attitude control during flight.
However, the FR prototype microrobot's flying range was limited by the length of the power cord attaching it to an external battery, and although it was radio-controlled, it had to be kept within sight of the operator while flying. Consequently, Epson decided that the next step was to extend the flying range by developing fully wireless operation paired with independent flight capability. The main issue to be tackled with regard to wireless flight was the need to combine lighter weight with greater dynamic lift. Epson made the robot lighter by developing a new gyro-sensor that is a mere one-fifth the weight of its predecessor, making it the world's smallest and lightest*6 gyro-sensor. Also helping to shed weight is the high-density mounting technology used to package the microrobot's two microcontrollers including the Epson-original S1C33-family 32-bit RISC. Dynamic lift was boosted 30% by introducing more powerful ultra-thin ultrasonic motors and newly designed, optimally shaped main rotors. As for the challenge of independent flight, Epson brought its many years of micromechatronics experience to bear in realizing the development of a linear actuator with faster response time and a high-precision attitude control mechanism, and a flight path control and independent flight system (primarily for hovering).
To top it off, Epson added an image sensor unit that can capture and transmit aerial images via a Bluetooth wireless connection to a monitor on land, and they also devised two LED lamps that can be controlled as a means of signaling. Epson was assisted by Chiba University's Nonami (Control and Robotics) Laboratory in developing the control system for independent flight. The company also received advice on the rotor design from the Kawachi (Aeronautics and Astronautics) Laboratory at the University of Tokyo.
The key concept behind Epson's R&D efforts in micro-flying robots has been to expand the horizons of microrobot activities from two-dimensional space to three-dimensional space. Now, with the successful implementation of Bluetooth communications and independent flight in the FR-II, Epson has literally added a new dimension to microrobotics while greatly expanding the potential range of microrobot applications by incorporating image capture and transmission functions. At the Emerging Technology Fair, the FR-II micro-flying robot's features are expected to be showcased in artistic aeria
Page violates second law of thermodynamics! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Page violates second law of thermodynamics! (Score:4, Informative)
Way to go, boys!
Parent
Old Story From Nov 18, 2003 (Score:4, Insightful)
(blah! I hate when perssing "return" posts the story automatically)
This story was posted quite a while ago here [slashdot.org].
It's still a cool little gizmo, though. I'd love one for Christmas!
Re:Old Story From Nov 18, 2003 (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Old Story From Nov 18, 2003 (Score:3, Interesting)
Great...Just what we need. (Score:5, Funny)
No, no...GIANT Robots. (Score:5, Funny)
I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't want smaller robots. I want bigger robots. It would take, like, 300,000 of these guys to form Voltron. It's fair to say that the coolness factor of any given robot can be measured by the number of them which would be required to form Voltron. And, as you can imagine, I'll form the head.
Re:No, no...GIANT Robots. (Score:3, Funny)
Looks like a DiVinci Drawing (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Looks like a DiVinci Drawing (Score:3, Insightful)
Another use (Score:5, Funny)
This is not a new record. (Score:5, Informative)
MOD PARENT UP! (Score:5, Informative)
Check out the forums here for more info on all things R/C.
http://www.ezonemag.com
Parent
God damn crack smoker! (Score:3, Insightful)
Check your facts!
Go read the micro-heli forums at www.ezonemag.com instead of spouting unsubstantiated claims.
Lemme guess you think the moon landing was a fake and the earth is flat?
Re:This is not a new record. (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Here's a lighter one... (Score:4, Informative)
http://pixelito.reference.be/ [reference.be]
Practical Use (Score:4, Funny)
Perfect for doing recon missions in the office!
- Coffee in the coffee pot? Check.
- Did the boss leave early? Check.
- Is the coast clear to sneak out early? Check.
Re:Practical Use (Score:5, Funny)
I think the boss might catch on when a swarm of miniature flying robots flew by his doorway at 4:45 every day, stopping to peer into his office.
Parent
Re:Practical Use (Score:3, Funny)
I think you give the boss far too much credit.
3 minutes and video - I Spy! (Score:5, Insightful)
Consider flying this (covertly) into a hostage situation, then shutting down the motor - how long could it return video then?
Or corporate espionage - fly this between the drop ceiling and the real ceiling, land over the boardroom.
Oh hell yes, I can see a lot of uses right now for this.
Re:Anti-Personnel? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Better picture (Score:4, Informative)
DUH (Score:3, Funny)
Neighborhood weed delivery.
LK
Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy, here we come (Score:3)
Here's a link for you people who read boring books when you were kids:
http://www.norder.com/nostalgia/Danny-Dunn-Invisib le-Boy.html [norder.com]
Autonomous Applications (Score:5, Insightful)
If it can fly autonomously (not possible yet if you have to add more equipment like balance or barometric sensors and blow the thing's payload - but you can put the brainpower in the base station), it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. It could fly point to point in a warehouse on a security patrol, recharging at stops along the way. Automated inspections (attics, structual beams in large buildings, etc) could be done in detail with less strain on a manual pilot - you building inspector just watches the monitor and doesn't bother trying to fly the thing.
The big thing, of course, is adapting this technology to be used outside. Think of a swarm of these released from roadside base stations to check freeway bridges, dams, or structures, minutes after an earthquake. Or a version that works in fluid (really, a submarine) checking ship hulls for damage - on infestations of foreign organisms like zebra mussels - as they steam into port.
think of the applications (Score:3, Funny)
it would be perfect for delivering, say, five grams of crack from, say, microsoft marketing to, say, microsoft engineering.
Can't imagine much practical use? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Thanks, Taco (Score:5, Funny)
They could use it to deliver grams of weed in Amsterdamn's cafes. That's a gimmick!
Parent
Re:8.6 grams (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Worth the Money? (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Worth the Money? (Score:3, Interesting)
Lots of politics is indoors nowadays and not just in back rooms.
Loaded with 3.5 grams of C4 this could be flown across a convention hall at a target on stage. Not much power, but at point-blank range probably enough.
I'd be surprised if you couldn't make one that could fold down into a cell-phone case and be expanded past the security checks. Alot easier than getting a rifle inside.