Bionic

The Bionic Car project

By Mike Hanlon

June 9, 2005 Bionics, the combination of biology and technology is a recent field of research which has nonetheless already made remarkable progress possible in different areas. Nature has provided ideas for high-strength materials, dirt-repellent coatings and even Velcro fastenings and this has lead to an interdisciplinary project combining biologists and engineers the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center (MTC) to develop the Mercedes-Benz bionic car - a concept vehicle based on examples in nature. Engineers looked for specific example in nature whose shape and structure approximated to their ideas for an aerodynamic, safe, spacious and environmentally compatible car. Using these examples, the team designed and constructed a vehicle with intelligent lightweight construction and extraordinary aerodynamics. Read More

V8 Dolphin goes on and under the water

By Mike Hanlon

Next time you see a dolphin playing off-shore, diving and breaching the water, take a careful look because it just might be a Bionic Dolphin, with a motor and a human inside. The Bionic Dolphin or VASH (Variable Attitude Submersible Hydrofoil) has been a plaything for eccentric Northern Californian techno-artists for the last three decades but a wave of publicity in the last twelve months has seen the developers commit to creating and selling a production version. Specs are not yet finalised, but how does a two seater, tandem-control techno-toy with 400hp Corvette LS2 engine sound? It's already looking like the wildest ride in the sea! Read More

The Land Walker: the world's first 340cm bipedal exoskeleton

By Mike Hanlon

Japanese machinery and robotics manufacturer Sakakibara-Kikai has released the first genuine bi-pedal exoskeleton – a landmark event and one which is certain to attract a lot of attention for the company. Mechanatrons and BattleMechs have long been the subject of scifi books, comics and movies with the promise of cyborg technology popularised by the smash sixties television series “The Six Million Dollar Man.” We’ve previously seen some celebrated exoskeletons in films such as Alien (Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley takes out the Queen alien in an exoskeleton), Star Wars (the AT-ST Imperial Scout Walker) and RoboCop (the ED209), but until now, the nearest thing we’ve seen in the metal was the 3.5 metre superhero exoskeleton Enryu from Tmsuk in Japan.

Sakakibara-Kikai’s Land Walker is just a tad shorter than Enryu at 3.4 metres, weighs 1000kg and shuffles along at 1.5kmh. Enryu is a lot faster than Land Walker but uses caterpillar-like tracks rather than legs to perform its chores – the strapping 3.5 metre Enryu will be called upon to rush into burning buildings, lift heavy objects and rescue people. Read More

Taxis Hailed As 'Black Hole' For Lost Cell Phones And PDAs, As Confidential Data Gets Taken For A Ride

By Mike Hanlon

January 30, 2005 A global survey of 900 taxi drivers shows thousands of Mobile Phones, PDAs/Pocket PCs and Laptops are forgotten in taxis every day. Though the survey was commissioned by a company with a vested interest in alerting users to the importance of mobile device security, the results are no less concerning, given that most people have confidential data readily available to an unscrupulous finder, at least some of which could be devastating to the career and financial well-being of the person losing the phone. Read More

Toyota's i-unit Personal Mobility Concept

By Gizmag Team

A further evolution of the Toyota Personal Mobility (PM-01) concept called the "i-unit" is being featured at the Toyota Group Pavilion at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan. Toyota is launching the "i-unit" and other concept vehicles and helper robots with a "Mobility Performance Show" to dramatise the future of mobile technology and its potential role in society under the theme of "the dreams, pleasure and excitement of mobility in the 21st century." Read More

New 'Smart-fabric' inspired by pine cones

By Gizmag Team

November 26, 2004 A new smart-fabric derived from the properties of pinecones has been developed by the UK based Centre for Biomimetic and Natural Technologies. The fabric adapts to changing temperatures by opening up when warm and shutting tight when cold just like a pinecone's scales do in nature, and is just one of the emerging developments in the burgeoning field of "biomimetics". The "breathing" fabric is designed to stop the wearer getting hot or cold by adjusting itself to both internal and external temperatures. The textile is made up of a layer of thin spikes of wool, or another water-absorbent material, that opens up when it's made wet by the wearer's sweat. When the layer dries out, the spikes automatically close up again. A second layer underneath protects the wearer from the rain. Read More

'BrainGate' Brain-Machine-Interface takes shape

By Gizmag Team

December 7, 2004 An implantable, brain-computer interface the size of an aspirin has been clinically tested on humans by American company Cyberkinetics. The 'BrainGate' device can provide paralysed or motor-impaired patients a mode of communication through the translation of thought into direct computer control. The technology driving this Brain-Machine-Interface breakthrough has a myriad of potential applications, including the development of human augmentation for military and commercial purposes. Read More

Rehabilitation glove uses artificial muscles

By Gizmag Team

November 7, 2004 A rehabilitation glove powered by artificial muscles has won the recent AUD $10,000 British Council Eureka Prize for inspiring science. Designed by the Quadriplegic Hand Research Unit at the Royal North Shore Hospital, the invention will help people with permanent hand-movement loss to perform the daily functions most of us take for granted. Read More

Scientists demonstrate a mind-controlled future

By Gizmag Team

November 5, 2004 Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have demonstrated that a monkey can feed itself with a robotic arm simply by using signals from its brain, an advance that could enhance prosthetics for people, especially those with spinal cord injuries. The robotic arm, or neural prosthesis, is about the size of a child's arm and moves much like a natural arm, with a fully mobile shoulder and elbow and a simple gripper that allows the monkey to grasp and hold food while its own arms are restrained. Read More

Buell XB12S Lightning - something completely different

By Mike Hanlon

The Buell XB12 Lighting is quite unlike any other roadgoing motorcycle, though it draws a logical comparison with the Cagiva Xtraraptor and Ducati Monster. All three involve massive fuel-injected v-twin motors with minimalistic styling, but the Buell does it differently … very differently. For starters, it has 20% more engine capacity, and produces more torque delivered lower in the rev range than its competitors. The real trickery behind the Buell is not the engine though – it is the radical forged aluminium chassis. The fruit of countless hours of computer simulation of the stresses which motorcycle chassis’ undergo, it is as rigid as it looks, and doubles duty as a petrol tank, while the massive swinging arm also multi-tasks as the oil tank. Read More

Berkeley exoskeleton to enhance strength and endurance

By Mike Hanlon

The mere thought of hauling a 70-pound pack across miles of rugged terrain or up 50 flights of stairs is enough to evoke a grimace in even the burliest individuals. But breakthrough robotics research at the University of California, Berkeley, could soon bring welcome relief - a self-powered exoskeleton to effectively take the load off people's backs. Read More

Super 350cm exoskeleton

By Mike Hanlon

Updated May 2005 Whenever robots are discussed, it seems the name tmsuk comes up. The small Japanese robotics company has collaborated with some of the biggest names in electronics to produce commercial robots in the last few years, and their concepts always seem to be innovative and imaginative, not to mention very useful. tmsuk is best known for its security robots Banryu and Artemis, a semi-humanoid security guard for hospitals and office buildings) so when Japan’s National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster, strategised its next generation response to earthquakes and the fires they cause and decided it needed a robot for high risk situations, tmsuk got the call. Built for business, the strapping 3.5 metre Enryu will be called upon to rush into burning buildings, lift heavy objects and rescue people. Neat heh! Read More

Australian Bionic Eye approaches human trials

By Mike Hanlon

Wednesday September 10, 2003: Researchers at the University of Newcastle are at the forefront of international research into ways that new technology can be applied to restore sight to the blind. By using a tiny electronic circuit to deliver controlled, electronic stimulation to the surviving nerve cells of the retina, the team hope to replace some of the physiological events that take place on a normal, healthy retina. Read More

Exoskeletons: Wearable Robots

By Mike Hanlon

The human body is unsurpassed in the complexity of its design, performance and efficiency, but there are definite limitations to what we can achieve with a frame that's around 6ft high - we can only carry so much weight, jump so far or run so fast before we reach our physical boundary. Machines that overcome these limitations have been with us for centuries, but we are only beginning to explore the possibilities of augmentation - extending our existing capabilities through wearable robot exoskeletons to create superhuman strength, speed and stamina. Read More

Bionic eye offers hope to the blind

By Mike Hanlon

Sandia National Laboratories have released a prototype "eye-chip" that may eventually achieve the miraculous goal of restoring sight to the blind. Part of an ambitious project involving several US national labs and Universities... Read More