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
 |
Screamers - PKD's Claws - The Robotic Research Begins
The sandfish lizard can quickly move through the sands of the Sahara. Researchers are learning how they accomplish this feat, with the eventual aim of creating robots able to move quickly through sand and rubble. Fans of Philip K. Dick have no trouble recognizing the claws or guard robots from his 1953 story Second Variety; they were featured in the movie 1995 Screamers.
(Claws - or Screamers - from the 1995 movie)
In the story, Dick writes about terrifying autonomous robots burrowing their way effortlessly up through the sand; he describes them as small robots that "run and burrow."
Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday. A metal sphere, it raced up the hill after the Russian, its treads flying. It was small, one of the baby ones. Its claws were out, two razor projections spinning in a blur of white steel...Hendricks lifted the view sight and gazed into it. The remains of the Russian were gone. Only a single claw was in sight. It was folding itself and disappearing into the ash...
The sandfish lizard's secrets have been revealed by using a high-speed x-ray imaging system. Daniel I. Goldman, a physicist at Georgia Institute of Technology, and his team performed the research. Take a look at this video of the lizard burrowing and then easily moving through the loose sand.
(Sandfish lizard research video)
“It’s pretty simple,” Dr. Goldman said. “It puts a traveling wave down the body, from head to tail.” In other experiments in which they dragged a steel cylinder through sand, the researchers were able to model the drag and thrust forces that this kind of movement would generate.The X-ray camera showed that within a half-second as it burrows into the sand, the sandfish folds its limbs against its sides. “It doesn’t look like a lizard anymore,” Dr. Goldman said. “It starts to look like an undulatory snake or eel.”
Dr. Goldman specifically noted that this research should advance the creation of robots that easily move through sand or rubble, according to the New York Times.
Via Frolix_8. Read additional quotes about claws from Philip K. Dick's story Second Variety.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/21/2009)
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 ( 6 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...' - Frederik Poh, 1954.
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent (1934)
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
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
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
The Desert Ship Sailed In Imagination
'Across the ancient sea floor a dozen tall, blue-sailed Martian sand ships floated, like blue smoke.'
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
