Frogbots! Solar-powered, at that!

Dave Hrynkiw
December 15, 2000

I missed the full segment of this story last weeks on "Discovery Channel's @discovery.ca" program, but fortunately, the've put the segment online at their website. I seems that JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories - NASA essentially) is working on a solar-powered, single-footed robot frog. This seems like a GREAT idea for extra-terrestrial planet-surface locomotion. Check out the videos and see for yourself. Additional information at Space.com Even more technical information is here and here, in these Adobe Acrobat files from one of the researchers, Paulo Fiorini. Here's his homepage. And this is his dedicated Frogbot hompage - lots of interesting info!

Oh, and if you scroll to the bottom of the Discovery Channel / EXN page, you'll find a nice video clip of our favorite Roboticist, Mark Tilden. They shot this a few years ago, and I'm glad to see they resurrected it to be on this page.

Read More...

MORE POSTS

February 19, 2002
BEP Documentation Correction... part 2!

Thanks to an observant BEP user, a schematic inconsistancy in the IMx (Inverting Multiplexor) module was discovered, located, and eradicated. If you're interested in keeping your BEP documentation totally updated, get a fresh copy of it from here.

April 4, 2006
New RoboSapien Tech...

Just spotted this little piece on the new "beer-serving" robots coming out from Wow-Wee. I've seen their offices - you may find some Mr. Pibb and Root Beer, but as a rule, the strongest thing you'll find in the R&D fridge are some king-sized Coffee Crisps...

August 28, 2012
Project Mon(Tues)day: Pinewood Lowrider

Jerome, our squiggly-bearded intern from many moons ago that created the BeetleBot, just pointed us towards this totally pimpin' pinewood derby car. The author from sliptonic.com shows how he made his sweet lowrider with hydaulic(esque) action by using a small micro-servo for each wheel, an Ardweeny for brains, and a 9V battery for power. The […]

July 23, 2010
HVW Sale, Useless Machine, Pitsco

Fun fact: As I type this out, I'm doing so not while sitting at my desk, but sitting on it. I highly recommend you try it. Probably not very ergonomic, but hey. When the boss temporarily commandeers your chair, you gotta make do with what you got. So this week we have a few small […]

1 9 10 11 12 13 254
Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.