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 16, 2001
More Biobot info, and Mark Tilden Lectur...

Mark Tilden just sent us this link - there are more BioBots! The "B.I.O. Bots" were a hit at this years New York Toy Fair and it looks like we might be seeing more of these robots in the future! USA Today carried some pictures of the new BEAM ideology based robots, along with some […]

February 4, 2002
Pushpin Update

We've been getting many requests for additional inventory of our popular Push Pogo Pins. Well, we've ordered a batch, and we'll post an update when they're finally in. Sorry, no better ETA than that!

December 9, 2014
3D Printed Treetop Star

Initially inspired by the Moravian Star on Instructables and the fact that we now carry all kinds of 3D printing filament, we decided to make one of our own glowy holiday star. We have used this thing as source files to create a similar treetop decoration of our own. After some trial and error (due […]

March 27, 2010
Misc Tidbits, Closed for Good Friday

Well, that magical time of year where rabbits poop magical chocolate eggs is almost upon us. And, as usual, Solarbotics will be closed for Good Friday, on April the 2nd. This'd be where we talk about how you can still send emails and submit orders, and that we'll answer any correspondence/messages and resume processing/shipping orders […]

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.