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Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot 385

Posted by CmdrTaco 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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Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot More

Epson's 12 Gram Flying Robot

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  • Not what I had in mind (Score:4, Interesting)

    by qmchenry ( 266894 ) * on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:01PM (#10004639)
    Was anyone else hoping it would look more like a bee or a dragonfly?

    • Re:Not what I had in mind (Score:5, Funny)

      by xsupergr0verx ( 758121 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:14PM (#10004836)
      If it's anything like Epson's other offerings, you have to buy $40 of colored ink every month or so to keep it flying.
    • Was anyone else hoping it would look more like a bee or a dragonfly?

      Too much reading Dune/watching Lexx.

    • Re:Not what I had in mind (Score:4, Interesting)

      by mks180 ( 442267 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @04:26PM (#10006545)
      Rotors are much easier to build: just a revolute joint. While a flapping wing would be a more efficient way to produce lift for a small aircraft, it would be incredibly challenging to produce an actuator which can produce the required motion of a bee's wings, particularly at the proper frequency and scale. The wings actually flap and then twist, or flip over, at the end of each stroke. This way they use the vortex that is shed during the previous stroke to provide a boost in lift on the return stroke because the vortex passes over the upper surface of the wing. This produces a much greater pressure differential than just a regular airfoil in a free stream, because the core of the shed vortex has a much lower pressure than what can be produced by an airfoil due to it's shape. Let's not forget the control system which would probably be a challenge to design.

  • Can carry a spare battery! (Score:5, Informative)

    by EmbeddedJanitor ( 597831 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:02PM (#10004649)
    12g - 8.6g = 3.4g battery. Can carry a spare and a half and fly for a few more minutes.

  • TERRORISM (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:05PM (#10004691)
    Obviously this will be used by terrorists. This kind of device should be banned.

    • Re:TERRORISM (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:06PM (#10004719)
      If you ban miniature remote control helicopters only criminals will have miniature remote control helicopters!

    • Re:TERRORISM (Score:5, Funny)

      by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <namtabmiaka>> on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:17PM (#10004875) Homepage Journal
      Zoom in on large building and cue sinister music.

      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?

      • Re:TERRORISM (Score:2, Insightful)

        by b4rtm4n ( 692708 )
        Hopefully you'll give Douglas Adams credit for that!

        "For thousands more years the mighty ships tore across the empty wastes of space and finally dived screaming on to the first planet they came across--which happened to be the Earth -- where due to a terribble miscalculation of scale the entire battle fleet was accidently swallowed by a small dog"

    • Of course! If I learned anything from playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City it was that RC helicopters can be used to blow up buildings.

  • 5 grams for three minutes? (Score:5, Funny)

    by djfray ( 803421 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:05PM (#10004694) Homepage
    The street drug trade finally gets a technology boost.

  • Faked? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by garcia ( 6573 ) * on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:05PM (#10004700)
    After watching the video the first time I decided to watch it again and pay closer attention to the attendant's eyes.

    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.
    • pay closer attention to the attendant's eyes. No just proves the drug theories proposed above.
    • Even if we assume that it's real, "flying" might a bit generous. It's more like "aimlessly bouncing through the air".

      • Re:Faked? (Score:3, Funny)

        by nettdata ( 88196 )
        It actually looks like it's hanging from a line of some sort, as there appears to be some pendulum action going on... as if it was swinging side to side while being raised and lowered on a string.

    • Notice the Tri-lateral commission logo on the unit's battery. If you watch the vehicle bobbing, it forms the same sort of mathemtatical patterns as a crop circle. Finally, you can see flecks of a tinfoil cap beneath the scalp of the person in the video.

      What can this all mean?

    • Re:Faked? (Score:2, Funny)

      by Shagz ( 805926 )
      It's movie trickery, I say! Why else would she be standing in front of a BLUE screen. I half expect the next version of the video to have Godzilla in the backgroung with the Mothra twins flying the little helicopter.

    • Apparently it crashes into things: (Score:4, Informative)

      by theluckyleper ( 758120 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:37PM (#10005099) Homepage
      In the Globe and Mail [theglobeandmail.com] version of the story, they say:

      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!

  • Practical uses (Score:3, Funny)

    by aminorex ( 141494 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:05PM (#10004703) Homepage Journal
    You could deliver drugs and take payment with it.

  • Page broken in Firefox (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:05PM (#10004706)
    Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson") today announced that it has successfully developed a lighter and more advanced successor to the FR, the world's smallest and lightest micro-flying robot. Turning once again to its micromechatronics technology, Epson has redefined the state of the art with its FR-II micro-flying robot--the world's new lightest and most advanced microrobot, which also features Bluetooth wireless control and independent flight*2. The FR-II will be on display at the Emerging Technology Fair, part of the Future Creation Fair that runs from August 27 to 30 at the Tokyo International Forum.

    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

  • Old Story From Nov 18, 2003 (Score:4, Insightful)

    by landoltjp ( 676315 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:06PM (#10004715)

    (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!

  • Great...Just what we need. (Score:5, Funny)

    by radiumhahn ( 631215 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:08PM (#10004735)
    Need E-mail virus targets new flying robots. Microsoft was brought down today by this new denial of service attack. Microsoft employees were quoted as saying "Those propellers really sting!"

  • No, no...GIANT Robots. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Onimaru ( 773331 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:08PM (#10004736)

    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.

    • Yes, but is that the 5 lion voltron, or the 15 vehicle voltron?
    • Why would you want to form the head? That's just disgu....OOOOH! THAT head....never mind. :)
    • OT, but while I liked Voltron, I never really understood the logistics of controlling it. Take the 5 Lion Voltron (aka the best one). Once it's all together, what do the other 4 people do? If the head dude had full control, what is the left leg pilot doing? Nothing? Fire control? Changing the tapes in the tape deck? If the head dude didn't, then some of the more complex maneuvers would have taken, well, a lot of coordination between pilots (see the Dexter's Lab spoof of Voltron for an interesting tak

      • What I want to know is, when Voltron runs or punches someone, what happens to the pilots in the feet or the hands? The pilots sat right behind or in the heads, right? That part becomes the heel, or sits right behind the wrist, depending.

        I suspect those people became the equivalent of a bridge crew, but I'd like to know why they didn't become jelly.

  • Looks like a DiVinci Drawing (Score:5, Interesting)

    by EvilTwinSkippy ( 112490 ) <yoda@nOSpAM.etoyoc.com> on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:08PM (#10004740) Homepage Journal
    I swear that little think looks like one of DiVinci's sketches of a human powered machine. Compare [artist-biography.info]

  • The video looks very fake to me ... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ANON 2004 writes:

    Did anyone wonder a couple of things about the video like I did?

    1 - Blue screen background .. very easy manipulation can take place in front of a blue screen.

    2 - The video was not contiguous, rather it was choppy - first you see the little helicopter, then it jumps frames to the helicopter in the hand of the assistant with the propellors moving .. then it jumps frames again and you sort of see it flying around but moving in a wierd pattern with the assistant sort of looking directly at i
    • Yeah, plus they're speaking some weird made-up language in the background.

      TOTAL fake.

    • sort of looking directly at it but maybe looking over it, Jar Jar Binks style in Star Wars I ...

      In ep1, they are looking directly at the FREAKING ACTOR IN FRONT OF THEM over which the CGI was superimposed afterwards.

      There's an actual guy there. If they're looking at him funny, its probably because they were aware of how stupid it all was, not because there was nothing there.

    • 1 - Blue screen background .. very easy manipulation can take place in front of a blue screen.

      Well, if the whole robot is a CG effect, there'd actually be no reason for the bluescreen - it'd be moving on top of the background plate. Bluescreen is generally used to key out portions of a movie to composite it on top of something else. If you're compositing on top of a plate, you don't need to key anything out.

      Mind you, if they removed some strings that were guiding a real vehicle, and maybe composited ju

  • I searched google for "weighs 5g" to see what it could carry, and on the first page of results it had this [hosts.co.uk].

    It feels like there should be a use for a flying sapphire buddha. I just can't think what.

    Although it would explain why he's got his hands over his eyes.

  • Another use (Score:5, Funny)

    by xsupergr0verx ( 758121 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:12PM (#10004798)
    Perverts around the world are waiting for the model with a camera.

  • This is not a new record. (Score:5, Informative)

    by chronophasiac ( 679677 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:13PM (#10004812) Homepage
    The Pixelito http://pixelito.reference.be/ [reference.be] is a far lighter RC helicopter. It weighs in at only 6.9 grams *with* battery. Check out the page for as size comparison with a hamster.

  • Here's a lighter one... (Score:4, Informative)

    by JargonScott ( 258797 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:13PM (#10004823)
    at 6.9g With battery!

    http://pixelito.reference.be/ [reference.be]
  • I was going to say that this would be perfect for spying on the enemy in the battlefield until I saw this. You would probably need at least 30 minutes of flight time to make this viable as a battlefield spying device.

    Having said that, what are other possible applications of this technology? Any ideas?

  • Practical Use (Score:4, Funny)

    by netfool ( 623800 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:13PM (#10004828) Homepage
    Epson added an image sensor unit that can capture and transmit aerial images via a Bluetooth wireless connection to a monitor on land

    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)

      by glpierce ( 731733 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:17PM (#10004874)
      Perfect for doing recon missions in the office! [...] Did the boss leave early?

      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.
      • 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.

        I think you give the boss far too much credit.

  • now if they could get a web-cam attached to it, we'd get more annoying pop up ads.

  • It's powered by these little replaceable compressed air cartridges, each one with an embedded chip to authenticate it to the helicopter. When it runs out, you gotta replace it.

    You might think you could just refill it, since air is cheap, but no! The chip won't let you!

    Don't try to reverse engineer the air cartridge, Epson will beat you with the DMCA-stick.
  • If the military or CIA likes these they could have a variety of subversive uses. With a little bit of plastic explosive an undercover agent could deliver all sorts of subversive destruction (blow out a structural support in a mosque without having to get too close, an assassination tool that could be launched such that it appears to frame someone else, etc)

    Of couse if the military or CIA doesn't want to spend the money, they'll frame them as a "terrorist tool" until the market disappears and the price come

    • Re:Worth the Money? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by EvilTwinSkippy ( 112490 ) <yoda@nOSpAM.etoyoc.com> on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:23PM (#10004943) Homepage Journal
      Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors. A simple gust of wind would carry this thing WAY off course. It looks like it has a hard enough time dealing with normal air currents sans wind.
      • Or until they realize this thing wouldn't last 10 seconds outdoors.

        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.
    • If the military or CIA likes these they could have a variety of subversive uses. With a little bit of plastic explosive an undercover agent could deliver all sorts of subversive destruction (blow out a structural support in a mosque without having to get too close, an assassination tool that could be launched such that it appears to frame someone else, etc)

      Unlikely. It weighs 8.6g, and could carry maybe 3g more payload. Some of that would be the detnoator for the explosive, so guess 2g of explosive. 2g

  • 3 minutes and video - I Spy! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:17PM (#10004879) Homepage Journal
    This can fly for 3 minutes and can return video images.

    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.

    • How about rigging it with a half-ounce of C-4 and replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor
      ? Set 100 loose on a bunch of terrorists holding up in a holy-site like say, oh I don't know, a mosque in Iraq?

      It would take very little networking between the craft to make sure they all picked independent targets. It would take even less to provide "do not kill" RFID tags to those in a room you want to spare.

      No more special forces or SWAT teams are required to take out a bad guy hiding in a building. Simply ru

  • Better picture (Score:4, Informative)

    by theluckyleper ( 758120 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:19PM (#10004902) Homepage
    Here's an in-flight picture [theglobeandmail.com], and another angle here [japantoday.com].
  • 6.9 gram infared controlled rc helicopter. It's lighter and smaller. I downloaded a video of it awhile back of the guy flying it around his living room that someone posted on a message board. Cool stuff.

    http://pixelito.reference.be/ [reference.be]
  • 8.6g w/o battery

    *(2.3kg with battery)

  • I can't imagine much practical use

    You obviously don't work in a cube!
  • Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use,

    That's more than enough for many biological, and some nasty chemical warfare agents.

    But it would be more fun to see Bond use it in the next movie to sneak the microdot out, or receive a weapon while in custodity.

    Btw, aren't there video cameras that small now? Since it already has the wireless link installed...

  • DUH (Score:3, Funny)

    by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @02:41PM (#10005143) Homepage Journal
    Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.

    Neighborhood weed delivery.

    LK
  • What advantage would having an eye in the sky, even for just a few minutes, specially one that's small and hard to shoot down, give our troops fighting in Iraq?

    You advance, launch a pile of there suckers, with a homing signal for easy retrieval, and a small explosive charge for those that find something nasty which means you don't want 'em back. And advance again without anybody being able to play hide-n-seek with guns.

    Air mail delivery of small, as snmart as the operator, mosque preserving, bomblets.

    Or
  • That reminds me of the autonomously motion-guided poison dart in the movie, Dune.
  • I've always wanted a small fighter chopper which would sit on my shoulder and every time a mosquitto gets to close to me would launch and shoot damned best down.

    Seems that technology moves in right direction. We only need a machine gun lighter than 5g (0.5mm would be enough even for biggesth horse-fly or hornet, and some clever design for shoulder mounted helicopter pad, which would allow thing to recharge before next mosquitto would attack me.

    Of course we would also need a clever control program. It see
  • I can think of one very effective purpose for these little buggers....anti-personnel.

    How about rigging it with a half-ounce of magnesuim shrapnel-encased C-4 and replacing the camera with an infra-red sensor? Set 1000 loose on a bunch of terrorists holding up in a holy-site like say, oh I don't know, a mosque in Iraq?

    It would take very little networking between the craft to make sure they all picked independent targets. It would take even less to provide "do not kill" RFID tags to those in a room you want
  • The first thing I thought of when I read the blurb on this was the dragonfly in Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy. I can't be the only one....

    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)

    by Embedded Geek ( 532893 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @03:41PM (#10005939) Homepage
    Many posters have posted ideas about using this thing as a simple remote controlled helicopter (reconisance, corporate espionage, etc). While that's kinda neat, it misses the real value of this thing.

    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)

    by flacco ( 324089 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @03:57PM (#10006171)
    Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use,


    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)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @04:30PM (#10006579)
    Since it can carry 5 grams for only 3 minutes, I can't imagine much practical use, but it's still neat.
    The first airplane carried only the weight of one man, and for only 12 seconds. That wouldn't seem to have much practical use, either, would it? :)

  • Can a Beawulf cluster of these win the X-Prize? (Score:3, Funny)

    by peter303 ( 12292 ) on Wednesday August 18, 2004 @05:50PM (#10007328)
    If I attach ten thousand or so to a lawn chair, and fly into space twice, then maybe win the $10M X-Prize!

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