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By far the greatest challenge for robots with legs is staying upright when the going gets rough. A team at the University of Pennsylvania's Kod*lab has a hunch that we don't need extra smarts to make that happen -- just an extra appendage. The upgraded X-RHex Lite (XRL) carries a tail that will swing in the right direction to keep the robot upright if it's caught out by a fall, much like a cat. That's impressive for a nearly 18-pound robot (the previous Tailbot was 0.4 pounds), but we're pretty sure no feline has six springy legs; the XRL can crash to the ground and still get back up like it ain't no thing, which gives it a fudge factor others don't have. We don't know if the hexapod critter will lead to more than further experiments. If there are fewer stuck rovers on future exploration missions, though, we'll know who to thank.
Continue reading X-RHex Lite robot grows a tail, always lands on its feet (video)
X-RHex Lite robot grows a tail, always lands on its feet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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University of Pennsylvania | Email this | Comments Is this evidence that Parkland High School was built upon the ancient crash site of the Millennium Falcon? Are they secretly planning a Smugglers school? Did George Lucas re-edit this institution?
Nah. It’s probably just coincidence. Or some mass conspiracy that we aren’t aware of. A Millennium Falcon school would be awesome though. You could learn to be a scoundrel. Learn how to speak Wookiee and where to hide your contraband cargo. Master the fine art of flying into a space creatures mouth, battling Mynocks on it’s insides and flying out again.
Yes, at the Millennium Falcon School of Higher Learning, you will even learn the fine art of differentiating Moons from Space stations and negotiating a price for passengers with Jedi and farm boys. Enroll right away.
[via IHeartChaos via Geeks Are Sexy]