 |
Anti-Landmine Robotic Shoe
A novel design for an anti-landmine shoe has been proposed by F.K. Fuss and M.A. Tan. The design of the robotic mine-shoe calls for a set of at least three support legs extending from a foot plate.
(Anti-landmine shoe responds to mine detection)
Each of the support legs consists of the following elements:
- a metal detector at the base of the "foot pad" to sense the mine
- An actuator at the joint of the leg; the actuator can either allow a load to be sustained, or, in the event that a mine is detected, can cause the leg to carry no weight. The weight of the plastic leg is not sufficient to set of the mine.
- The actuation of the support leg can be either passive (as described above) or active - raising the leg above the suspected mine.
Apparently, there really are anti-mine shoes; the Guartel Technologies Mine Shoes use the air cushions to spread the weight of the user across a greater area.
(Anti-mine inflatable shoe)
The MedEng Spider Boot is another effort with what appears to be a substantial amount of research behind it; it bears an obvious resemblance to the robotic anti-landmine shoe described above.
(Spider Boot)
It is estimated that from fifteen to twenty thousand people are killed or maimed by anti-personnel landmines every year; deminers are obviously subjected to terrible danger in the course of their work. Novel designs and new approaches are always welcome; more research and development are needed.
Read more at Development of a Novel Anti-Landmine Shoe; found this story here.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/30/2006)
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 (Back On) ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Warfare ")
What Camouflage Pattern Is Best?
If you can't see it, you're making progress.
UrbanSim Counterinsurgency Training App
'Why simulation?' 'He's beginning to do things I didn't anticipate.'
BAE System 'Bullet Proof Custard' Body Armor
'The pressure suit was soft and malleable under gentle pressures, such as walking, but instantly became rigid all over when something struck it.'
Transparent Aluminum Vs. .50-Cal Bullets
Transparent armor can come in handy.
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.
Current News
Sweat Be Gone! Non-Wetting Fabric
'The skin-contact layer is porous.'
German Firm Seeks To Recruit Autistics
Not a deficit, but a strength.
NASA Supports Pizza Printer
Is it extra with printed pepperoni?
Could Ground-Based Lasers De-Orbit Space Junk?
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
