Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to a special edition Evening News Post! That's right, it's way past the magical closing time here at Solarbotics but some of us are trudging onward. To what end, you wonder? Well, if you've seen that shiny orange promo banner up top you'll know why. MAKER FAIRE! Yup, just like the […]
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.
MORE POSTS
Heated Car Seat Teardown and Repair
Here's a little makeover of an inexpensive aftermarket heated car seat heating pad that stopped working. Designed to activate and warm up when sat upon, the electronics face a fair amount of abuse: since the seat is a soft frame, the wires inside constantly move and flex with the body. They are also subject to […]
GM2/3 Wheels!
WooHOO! We managed to get large, grippy wheels made for our GM2 & GM3 series of gearmotors! If you're familiar with the Parallax / MarkIII style Minisumo, these wheels might look familiar. The critical difference is that these wheels are keyed to fit the double-flat of our own gearmotors! We're presently stocking the black and […]
Closed for Long Weekend
Just a quick reminder that Solarbotics' Offices will be closed on Monday, August 4 for a Provincial Holiday. We will resume normal business hours on the the 5th, from 9AM til 6PM MST.
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!
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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.