Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Spherical Robot Lego Mindstorms NXT-Based
I liked this spherical robot mostly because it's a pretty cool DIY project by Nils Völker done with a Lego Mindstorms NXT robot kit. It is not autonomous; the user controls it via Bluetooth.
(Spherical robot uses Lego Mindstorms NXT)
It uses the same form of locomotion as some other robots you may already know about; see the videos in these articles for more information and diagrams - Rotundus And Rover: Spherical Robotic And Fictional Guardians, Inflatable Spherical Robots May Explore Mars and OrbSwarm Autonomous Spherical Robots.
I also liked this somewhat unique spherical robot - Jollbot Robot Ball Jumps, Bounces And Rolls, which has a pretty good video of Jollbot in action.
Update 04-Jun-2025: Compare this item with the spherical Ruum robot from The Ruum by Arthur Porges.
Jim Irwin had once worked with mercury, and for a second it seemed to him that a half-filled leather sack of the liquid metal had rolled into the clearing. For the quasi-spherical object moved with just such a weighty, fluid motion. But it was not leather; and what appeared at first a disgusting wartiness, turned out on closer scrutiny to be more like the functional projections of some outlandish mechanism. Whatever the thing was, he had little time to study it, for after the spheroid had whipped out and retracted a number of metal rods with bulbous, lens-like structures at their tips, it rolled towards him at a speed of about five miles an hour.
End update.
SF fans (as well as fans of supermacromation) remember the early 1980's series The Terrahawks, which had spherical robots called Zeroids were used to fight the evil witch-like alien Zelda.
(Sargeant Major Zero and Zeroid 18)
From Nils Völker.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/11/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.' - Isaac Asimov, 1944.
Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...' Harry Harrison, 1956.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'- Philip K. Dick, 1957.
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'
Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet —
this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
Alexa+ And Its AI Brain Improvements
'What's it do?' he asked. 'It amuses.'
Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?
Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'
Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
'I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me...'
Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.
China Steals Strato Airship Design From Google App Engine
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
The First Space Warship For Space Force
'Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men...'
Biohybrid Jellyfish Explore The Ocean
As predicted, and detailed, by science fiction writers!
Should AIs and AI Robots Demand Rights?
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'
Robot Learns Human Tool Usage By Imitation Learning
'I got one of those new electronic cameras...'
Companion Caregiver ChatGPT Dolls
'Every Artificial Friend is unique, right?'
'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
'A great many of these synthetic babies were made...'
Man Builds 200 Foot Basement Firing Range
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock.'
