Number of results 2
for Nano
03/07/2009 - Flapping-wing Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) from AeroVironment
According to a recent press release, DARPA has agreed to continue financing a research program for creating a small flapping-wing flying robot. AeroVironment are the happy recipients of 2.1 million dollars to continue NAV's development after achieving several breakthroughs during the now completed phase I of the project; phase I started in 2007 and lasted for 2 years while phase II is expected to continue until the summer of 2010. Specifically and as you can see from the below video, AeroVironment engineers have successfully built a small flapping-wing robot capable of hovering and flying in all directions under remote control.
The company plans to develop a robot that weighs no more than 10 grams and can be controlled from up to 1 mile away with a top speed of 10 meters per second. Obviously, there are numerous military applications for such robots including surveillance, reconnaissance, and even delivery of deadly payload with high precision.
For another nice high speed video of a flapping wing micro-robot, check out our previous post on the Butterfly Ornithopter.
The company plans to develop a robot that weighs no more than 10 grams and can be controlled from up to 1 mile away with a top speed of 10 meters per second. Obviously, there are numerous military applications for such robots including surveillance, reconnaissance, and even delivery of deadly payload with high precision.
For another nice high speed video of a flapping wing micro-robot, check out our previous post on the Butterfly Ornithopter.
30/12/2007 - Nano robots and human sperm cells
Researchers at Cornell University are trying to figure out how to use the same mechanism that powers human sperm cells in medical nano robots. According to a CBC article (my source for this post),
Medical nano robots are a very promising research direction for creating efficient mechanisms for medication delivery and for directly fighting disease, i.e., nano robots working along with natural white cells to fight viruses inside the human body. Medical nano robots can help us eliminate the problem of antibiotic resistant viruses once and for all and it is certainly one application of robotics that I am mostly looking forward to.
The CBC article, "Sperm power could drive nano-scale robots," has a nice overview of what the researchers have achieved so far and what they hope to do in the future given sufficient funding to continue their work.
By deconstructing the stages in the biological pathway sperm cells use to generate their relentless energy, researchers at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in the United States hope to recreate that process in an artificial device.
Medical nano robots are a very promising research direction for creating efficient mechanisms for medication delivery and for directly fighting disease, i.e., nano robots working along with natural white cells to fight viruses inside the human body. Medical nano robots can help us eliminate the problem of antibiotic resistant viruses once and for all and it is certainly one application of robotics that I am mostly looking forward to.
The CBC article, "Sperm power could drive nano-scale robots," has a nice overview of what the researchers have achieved so far and what they hope to do in the future given sufficient funding to continue their work.
