Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
  • News
  • Guns
    • Rifles
    • Handguns
    • Shotguns
    • Special Weapons
  • Gear
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Holsters
    • Knives
    • Optics & Sights
    • Suppressors
  • Lifestyle
    • Pop Culture
    • Military & Police
    • Training
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
  • News
  • Guns
    • Rifles
    • Handguns
    • Shotguns
    • Special Weapons
  • Gear
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Holsters
    • Knives
    • Optics & Sights
    • Suppressors
  • Lifestyle
    • Pop Culture
    • Military & Police
    • Training
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun News and Gun Reviews
No Result
View All Result
 
New Year, New FREE GUN FRIDAY! Enter to WIN the Smith & Wesson and Black Hills package.

Army Unveils Compressible Robot Based on Cockroach

Tactical-Life by Tactical-Life
February 12, 2016
in News
0
U.S. Army cockroach compressible robot with articulated mechanisms

UC Berkeley's cockroach-inspired robot prototype, CRAM, is supported by ARL's MAST CTA, through which researchers seek to transition technology that will enhance warfighters' tactical situational awareness in urban and complex terrain.

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The following is a release from Jenna Brady, ARL Public Affairs:

Supported by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, University of California-Berkeley researchers have developed a small, crawling robot that mimics a cockroach’s ability to squeeze through confined spaces.

A report by UC Berkeley researchers Dr. Kaushik Jayaram and Dr. Robert Full is featured in the latest edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • RELATED STORY: 25th Infantry Division Testing Robotics Battlefield Capabilities

Cockroach exoskeletons inspired them to manufacture an origami-style, soft, legged robot that can move around rapidly in both open and confined spaces.

These spaces include rubble generated by natural disasters and explosions that first responders may not be able to access in emergencies.

The robot, which is palm-sized, is known as CRAM for “compressible robot with articulated mechanisms.”

While currently a prototype, researchers see great possibilities for this insect-inspired technology, which will be tested in real-world disasters when a more robust version is developed.

ARL’s Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology, commonly referred to as MAST, Collaborative Technology Alliance, supports the project. Researchers from the Army, industry and academia comprise the group.

Dr. Brett Piekarski, cooperative-agreement manager of the MAST CTA, said its goal is to develop and explore the underpinning science to enable increased situational awareness for the dismounted Soldier in complex, real-world environments by enabling increased autonomy, collaboration, and mobility of micro-aerial and ground-based autonomous systems.

“The research at UC Berkeley is exploring bio-inspired mobility and control methods that can be applied to future Army autonomous robotic systems,” Piekarski said. “Over the course of the program, they have performed research in many areas from how insects can maneuver and transition over and through varying surfaces, to how lizards use their tails to maintain stability over rugged terrain or to maneuver rapidly, to bio-inspired self-righting technologies that have led to a joint project with ARL, and to the focus of the recent paper on how cockroaches maneuver through very small cracks.”

Piekarski said these studies are providing new discoveries that will lead to innovations in how future micro-autonomous systems will operate and rapidly maneuver through complex 3-D terrains.

Distinct from the specific research discussed in the journal but also pertinent to cockroach-inspired robotics research, ARL researchers, including Chad Kessens, are working with UC Berkeley on the ability of cockroach-inspired robots to self-right.

Kessens, a robotic-manipulation research engineer, is developing an analysis framework for determining self-righting solutions; that is, getting a robot back on its feet/wheels/tracks after tipping over. It was designed to analyze how any given robot may utilize its available appendages or other means of movement for self-righting. The goal is to apply the framework to existing fielded systems as well as future systems, whatever they may look like.

“The software that we have developed at ARL analyzes and evaluates any given robot’s ability to return to its preferred orientation after tipping over,” Kessens said. “UC Berkeley’s group and I are using it to understand the relationship between the wing geometries of various cockroaches and the methods they choose for righting. We have been testing these on cockroach-inspired, self-righting robots they’ve been developing.”

Kessens said they hope to better understand what mechanical and energetic advantages the cockroach’s righting strategy offers for robotics applications.

Kessens said cockroach-inspired, self-righting robots would be a valuable asset on the battlefield.

“Soldiers have reported tip-over of existing robotic systems as a significant issue,” he said. “The very rugged terrain and dynamic conditions experienced in the field can cause robots to turn upside down, leading to mission delays and risking loss of these valuable robotic tools that Soldiers need to complete their missions.”

Kessens noted that it is almost inevitable that at some point on a mission this problem will be experienced, and once a tip-over occurs, it can be very challenging for an operator to determine how to right a robot. Operators often cannot directly see the robot, and cameras on the robot might be looking at the ground or the sky, making it difficult to know how the robot is oriented or positioned.

“One Solider I spoke with valued his robot so much that he got out of the safety of his vehicle to rescue it when he was unable to get it back on its tracks after many attempts. This is exactly what we do not want, and Soldiers should not be tempted to risk themselves for a robot,” Kessens said.

So, while some may view them as a nuisance, researchers are working to put the capabilities of cockroaches and similar insects to use to provide both civilian and military operations with technological support that could save lives in times of crisis.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

CLICK HERE FOR COMMENTS

RELATED POSTS

The Daniel Defense MK12 Alpine Predator.

Daniel Defense Limited Series MK12 Alpine Predator Rifle Sells Out in 30 Minutes

ATF Pistol Stabilizing Brace guidance, fallout

BRACE for It: ATF Issues Final Rule on the Pistol Stabilizing Brace

Saved In America Works to Locate Missing, Runaway, and Trafficked Children.

Saved In America to Host Fundraising Dinner to Find Missing Children

Remington Ammunition Issues Recall Notice on 12-Gauge Premier Accutip Ammo.

Remington Ammunition Issues a 12-Gauge Premier AccuTip Ammo Recall

Load More

TACTICAL-LIFE NIGHT SHOOTER SEASON 2

Discussion about this post

FEATURED POST

Some of the top guns and gear released at SHOT Show 2023.

30 of the Best Guns & Gear Launched at SHOT Show 2023

We walked more than 40 miles on the show floor over four days. And we picked through every last rifle,...

Read more

TRENDING

U.S. Secret Service adopts Glock G47

FIRST LOOK: Glock Just Very Quietly Unveiled the New Glock 47 Pistol

...

5 new pistols launched at NASGW.

5 New Pistols Launching for 2023

...

Police Sidearms, police duty pistols, Handguns, America's Largest Police Departments 2018

Police Sidearms: The Handguns of America’s 10 Largest Departments

...

The upgraded Mossberg Patriot LR Tactical is built for long-range shooting.

FIRST LOOK: Rounds Downrange With the new Mossberg Patriot LR Tactical

...

PICK A CATEGORY

TACTICS & TRAINING SPOTLIGHT

Tactical Reload Semi-Auto Pistol Step 8

5 Strategies For Effectively Completing a Tactical Reload

If you’re reading this publication, you’re most likely familiar with the “speed reload,” sometimes called the “combat reload” or “emergency...

TACTICS & TRAINING SHOWCASE

Fact vs. Fiction 5 Myths Gunfight Survival lead

5 Common Myths on How to Survive a Gunfight

Standing Your Ground Castle Doctrine lead

Understanding Stand Your Ground Laws and Castle Doctrine

long distance shooting tips

Long-Distance Shooting: 5 Must-Know Tips For Spotters & Shooters

IMPACT Experience Events.

IMPACT Experience Events Redefine Your Long-Range Shooting Limits

Enhance your shooting precision skills in a course with Modern Day Sniper.

Sniper Skills: Taking Your Shooting Precision to the Next Level

Once you find a carry gun that works for you, get another for a spare. These “hammerless” S&W J-frame lightweights are M340 M&P with Hogue Bantam grips, top, and a M442 Airweight with Crimson Trace Lasergrips, below.

10 Commandments of Concealed Carry

self-defense myths can be dangerous

Self-Defense Myths that Could Get you Killed

Mossberg 590 Shockwave review for home defense myths

4 Home Defense Myths You Need to Stop Repeating

The Dicken Drill is named for Eli Dicken who saved many lives in the Greenwood Mall

The Elisjsha Dicken Drill

AMMO SPOTLIGHT

Remington Ammunition Issues Recall Notice on 12-Gauge Premier Accutip Ammo.

Remington Ammunition Issues a 12-Gauge Premier AccuTip Ammo Recall

Remington Ammunition has recently discovered an issue related to its 12-Gauge Premier Accutip ammo and issued a recall notice. This...

site logo
Tactical Life Gun Magazine: Gun news, gun reviews and gun magazines for gun enthusiasts, military and law enforcement

Tactical

  • tactical-life.com

Magazines

  • Tactical Life
  • The Complete Book of Reloading
  • Guns of the Old West

Facebook

  • Tactical-Life Facebook
  • Guns of the Old West Facebook

Twitter

  • Tactical-Life Twitter

Self Defense

  • PersonalDefenseWorld.com

Magazines

  • Personal Defense World
  • Combat Handguns

Facebook

  • Personal Defense World Facebook
  • Combat Handguns

Twitter

  • Personal Defense World Twitter

Shooting Lifestyle

  • BallisticMag.com

Magazines

  • BallisticMag.com

Facebook

  • Ballistic Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Ballistic Magazine Twitter

Alpha Lifestyle

  • SkillsetMag.com

Magazines

  • Skillset

Facebook

  • Skillset Magazine Facebook

Twitter

  • Skillset Magazine Twitter

Instagram

  • Skillset Magazine Instagram
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • California Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Policy
© Athlon Outdoors, All Rights Reserved.
You use of this website constitutes and manifests your acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and awareness of the California Privacy Rights. Pursuant to U.S. Copyright law, as well as other applicable federal and state laws, the content on this website may not be reproduced, distributed, displayed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, without the prior, express, and written permission of Athlon Outdoors.

Manage your GDPR consents by clicking here. Manage your CCPA consents by clicking here.
No Result
View All Result
  • Guns
    • Rifles
    • Handguns
    • Shotguns
  • Knives
  • Gear
    • Holsters
    • Optics & Sights
    • Accessories
    • Ammo
    • Suppressors
  • Videos
  • News
  • Contact Us

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.