|
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
|
|
Bluetooth-Enabled Robot Legs Talk To Each Other
Bluetooth-enabled robotic legs are helping Iraq veterans walk again. When Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq, physical therapists outfitted him with robotic legs that can talk to each other.
(Bluetooth-enabled robotic legs)
Each leg is equipped with computer chips in each leg, as well as built-in motors, to ease the process of walking long distances. Past versions of the prosthetic legs were provided only to people with one good, working leg. The robot leg would imitate the existing, organic leg.
With Bleill's set, each leg mimics the other, thanks to Bluetooth technology that sends signals over a short distance. When Bleill stands up and leans forward, the legs get the signal to start walking.
After several steps, the legs have worked out a coordinated walking motion that continues until Bleill signals them to stop by apply resistance to forward motion with canes.
And yes, this is the very same Bluetooth technology that you use in your cell phone, or other enabled device.
So how well does it work? Bleill seems pretty impressed.
"We've compared walking several laps in both sets of legs and one, your legs come out burning and tired and these, you know, you sometimes are not even breaking a sweat yet."
There may be a Star Trek: The Next Generation correlation to these legs. In one episode, Worf is paralyzed and one of the options is to use transmitters to help his legs move again.
Earlier than that, fans may recall the bionic legs from Cyborg, the novel from which The Six Million Dollar Man was created:
They had created, lovingly, with infinite attention to detail, a bionics and electronics duplicate of what had been the legs of Steve Austin...
...where revascularization was not possible, they used plastic and cerosium and Dacron and silastic and whatever else was necessary... They were opening nerve endings and preparing bone. They were on the brink of a new world of the human and bionics, of joining living flesh and bone to electronics and steel and vitallium and plastic and tiny, powerful units of nuclear energy... Human and human-made were brought together, connected, spliced, wired, sealed...
(Read more about Steve Austin's bionic legs
This is also an interesting example of robots that cooperate with each other. Story via Double amputee walks again due to Bluetooth; thanks to Eric Nodacker for the tip on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/25/2008)
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 ( 1 )
Related News Stories -
("
Robotics
")
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.' - Lee Chaytor, 1958.
Challenges Of Two-Armed Robots
When the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
AlphaGarden Robot Cares For Gardens Better Than Humans
'...a simple clock-set servok with pipe and hose arms.' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
TeslaBot Uber Driver (2024) And The Automatic Motorist (1911)
'Robots have worse problems than anybody' Philip K. Dick, 1954.
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
Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM
"Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"
Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail?
'If she starts to roll sideways — blooey! The underjets only hold you up when they’re pointing down, you know.'
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.'
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces
'the real border was defended by ...a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats...'
SensorWake Scent-Based Alarm Clock
'The odalarm awoke Jorj X. McKie with a whiff of lemon.'
AI Worms That Spread
'...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now'
Challenges Of Two-Armed Robots
When the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
FlexRAM Liquid Metal RAM And One Particular SF Movie Robot
'Its lines wavered, flowed, and then painfully reformed.'
Ulm Sleep Pods For The Homeless
'The lid lifted and she crawled inside...'
Prophetic Offers Lucid Dreaming Halo With Morpheus-1 AI
''Leads trail away from insertion points on her face and wrist... to a lucid dreamer...'
More Like A Tumblebug Than A Motorcycle
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized on a single wheel...'
Tesla Camera-Only Vision Predicted In 1930's SF
'By its means, the machine can see.'
First Ever Proof Of Water On Asteroids
'Yes, strangely enough there was still sufficient water beneath the surface of Vesta.'
Aptera Solar EV More Stylish Than Heinlein Steel Tortoise
'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
Gigantic Space Sunshade Would Fight Global Warming
'...the light of the sun had been polarized by two crossed fields so that no radiation could pass.'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
|