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

August 3, 2018
New Product: 50 Meter GroovyNoodle Wire ...

GroovyNoodle wire. Some is good; LOTS is better. We absolutely love our GroovyNoodle wire, with its super flexibility and silicone-jacket insulation in 7.5M "casual use" spools. For more ambitious projects that need more length, we now have our GroovyNoodle in value-priced 50 meter spools! It's more of our favorite 24AWG wire with a whopping 40 […]

December 21, 2010
Solarbotics Holiday Hours

Well folks, it's winding down to the last few days before Christmas. If you're aiming to get something delivered in the US before the 25th, you might be in luck if you order now and get it sent via UPS Express. We can't make any guarantees this late in the game, but we'll do our […]

June 16, 2004
GM15 Nano Robot Sumo

We've had some requests about our own demo Nano robot sumo "BittyBad", which uses a pair of GM15 gear motors. On the GM15 detail page, you'll see a picture of it! It features 2 GM15 gear motors, two 90mA/h LiPoly 3.7V batteries (in series), two "ProxDots" objects sensors, a pair of edge-sensors and a (gasp!) […]

February 27, 2009
PICAXE Project Boards

For the past few months we've had bundles for many of the PICAXE project boards. They come with cables and a battery holder, and are generally what you need if you're getting started in this kind of stuff for the first time. But what if you already have all those fun appetizers on the side, […]

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.

cart