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

March 28, 2005
Robots using GM15s

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. If you didn't already know, Solarbotics has been moving offices, and it's taken a surprising amount of effort to get everbody/thing moved and settled. Beyond that, I've found some time to websurf...just a bit! A GM15 linefollower? Neat!(Update!:)He's just posted a video of it going ~40cm/s (although he's […]

October 14, 2014
Paypal Issues

PayPal payments are working again, thank you for your patience. We're currently aware of an issue regarding PayPal and are working to correct the problem. If you have attempted to place an order via PayPal, nothing has been preauthorized or charged to your account. If you need to place an order, please email sales via […]

February 13, 2013
Wednesday Cool Links: Laser Experiments,...

Look! Bird (-shaped bullets) made holes in bird... feathers! Well, not quite, although that would have been awesome too. Actually we were doing some nitrogen-assisted laser tests on various regular, i.e. boring materials, such as plywood and mat board. Then I came across some feathers and here's what it turned out to be: Now that […]

January 19, 2004
Sumovores roll over Italy again!

Another msg from our Italian contacts: Sumovores do well at the Pisa! Here's a Google-translated link.

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.