Article View: comp.robotics
Article #1055Ant Sized Robot
From: Karl Altenburg
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1992 23:16
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 1992 23:16
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The 'ant' sized robot I think you are talking about is the one proposed by Dr. Johannes Smits at Boston University's College of Engineering. So far he has only demonstrated the legs and is using something like zinc-oxide coated silicon as a piezoelectric actuator. I heard a lecture by him at the Artificial Life III conference last June. According to his current designs and calculations the 'ant' will be around three to seven millimeters long, have six legs, a forward facing pincer, move at a top speed of 4 meters per second and carry 300 times its own weight (wow.) The only references I have are: Popular Science, March 1992, p20. Computerworld, Jan 6 1992, p17. New York Times, Jan 6 1992. And I think there was an article in Discover Magazine during the last four months or so. These references have some nice pictures but not much technical info. Karl -- Karl R Altenburg altenbur@plains.NoDak.edu North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105 All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God. SIR THOMAS BROWNE
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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!ogicse!plains!plains.NoDak.edu!altenbur From: altenbur@plains.NoDak.edu (Karl Altenburg) Newsgroups: comp.robotics Subject: Ant Sized Robot Message-ID: <21005@plains.NoDak.edu> Date: 6 Oct 92 23:16:38 GMT Article-I.D.: plains.21005 Sender: Unknown@plains.NoDak.edu Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network Lines: 30 Nntp-Posting-Host: plains.nodak.edu