I-Swarm robot update

posted Aug 31st 2009 1:21pm by
filed under: robots hacks

I-Swarm_Micro_Robot_On_Thumb

Back in October we reported on the I-Swarm robotics project. [Travis] sent us some more information. These tiny robots are programmed optically and are able to respond to programming commands via an infrared signal. Locomotion is facilitated with piezoelectric actuators and the power to the units provided through a solar cell. It is not clear that this project is still ongoing as the I-Swarm web page lists a project termination date of 6/31/2008. That being said, the video embedded after the break was posted two days ago showing swarm movement and detailing the programming, testing, and hardware specifics.

[via Hizook]



9 Responses to I-Swarm robot update

  • Nicholas Overstreet says:
    August 31, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    Maybe it’s the terrible compression from youtube, but to me the first video looks like the little robot is being moved around by fishing string…

    Reply Report comment
  • Tomasito says:
    August 31, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    yeah, there is some kind of wire that comes from the robot.

    Reply Report comment
  • RazorConcepts says:
    August 31, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    it looks like an antenna to me

    Reply Report comment
  • SQneo says:
    August 31, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    i think that wire was for power (you see 2 of them) since i dont see any type of solar cell there

    Reply Report comment
  • NidStyles says:
    August 31, 2009 at 3:48 pm

    Look’s a lot like Mark Tilden’s work with BEAM Robotic’s.

    Reply Report comment
  • F7 says:
    August 31, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    The lines in the first video are probably power, maybe a little communication too. It looks like two strands of really thin magnet wire, and they’re slack the whole time.

    I like the noise that the piezo actuators make. For a split second I thought the bot in the video was going to play “somewhere in my memory”. It’d be great to see a few dozen of these dancing/playing complex music.

    Reply Report comment
  • Ryan Leach says:
    September 1, 2009 at 8:58 am

    Hmm seizure warning for the programming section i n the second video?

    Reply Report comment
  • accela says:
    September 1, 2009 at 9:03 am

    people need to hire finger models for photos like this.

    Reply Report comment
  • kiro says:
    January 21, 2010 at 11:56 pm

    how to now the movement of this swarm robot..

    Reply Report comment

    • Leave a Reply

    XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title="" rel=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

    Hack a Day serves up fresh hacks each day, every day from around the web as well as hacking related news.

    Send us your hacks










         



    Hacks

    Resources