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

January 28, 2004
Ordering glitches

As part of our on-going website upgrades/patches, it seems that fixing one thing tends to ...botch... other aspects of the website. Right now, our shopping cart isn't cooperating. Trust us, if there was an aspect of the website we don't want going down, it's our order forms! We're on it right now, but in the […]

October 6, 2011
BrutusBot, Peggy Sale, Closed Oct 10th

Hello, everyone! ... And without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, we present: THE BRUTUSBOT. /cue the fanfare of one thousand trumpets, a legion of marching drummers, seven tubas, and some guy named Donald busting out a wicked solo on a mandolin "Hark! What is this overwhelming contraption of might and thunderous presence?!", you must be […]

November 3, 2003
Hmmm... what's that big truck bringing? ...

Well, what a pleasant surprise - a large truck dropped by today and delivered our shipment of GM10 gear motors! They're $12.00/ea or $9.50/ea USD in pairs ($15.50/ea or $12.75/ea in pairs for Canadians) - much less expensive than converting nanoservos!

November 10, 2011
Closed Friday, November 11th (Remembranc...

Usually when it comes time to do these find-a-witty-way-to-describe-why-we-won't-be-in-the-office-for-a-holiday posts, we like to ponder the deeper meanings of the universe while mixing in a healthy dose of the absurd with a side helping of (rather questionable) humour. But this time around, we have nothing. Remembrance Day is an important event, and we have nothing but […]

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