DARPA meets GEICO ?

   DARPA meets GEICO ?

   "I always feel like somebody's watching me..."

 

 

 from Wired.com

 

Shapeshifting Robot Peeps from Under the Door
 
Remember B.O.B, the shape-shifting blob from Monsters vs. Aliens?  B.O.B may soon have a real-life counterpart.

 

Robotics company iRobot has developed a soft robot that can roll around and change its shape so it can move through small spaces, such as holes and under the doors, as easily as it can on flat ground.

 

The robot called chembot or chemical robot was shown last week at a conference on intelligent robots and systems.

 

iRobot is no stranger to creating practical yet interesting automatons.  iRobot has sold more than 5 million robotic vacuum cleaners and mops, known as the Roomba and the Scooba.  The company also supplies robots to the U.S. military.

 

Chembot seems to be a machine designed for military use.  At first glance, the chembot looks like a rather ugly balloon.  The robot's skin is made of off-the-shelf silicone, says IEEE Spectrum. The flexible skin encloses air and loosely packed particles.  When air is removed, the particles shift to fill the void left and this results in a slightly different shape.  By controlling the inflation and deflation, the robot can be made to roll around.

 

It's a neat idea and researchers are now reportedly working to include sensors and even connect different blobs together.  DARPA, which is funding the project, is expected to use the robot for surveillance.

 

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/irobot-shape-shifting-robot/

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