Adelopod is a small two-armed tumbling amphibious robot developed at the University of Minnesota Center for Distributed Robotics. Adelopod moves around using its two rigid arms.
Adelopod Amphibious Tumbling Robot
Tumbling is a largely unexplored method of locomotion where the robot controls its orientation in order to achieve consecutive forward falls through its environment, thus producing net displacement. It is desirable for robotic locomotion for a number of reasons including inherent stability, high mobility, and low hardware complexity.
This device strongly reminds me of the Wabbler from Murray Leinster's eponomous 1942 short story.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'