TreeBot – An autonomous robot that can climb trees!
In a post Post-apocalyptic future when our robotic overlords have us under their control, taking to the Jungles and Forests for sanctuary is no longer an option.
At the Chinese University of HongKong, Tin Lun Lam and his associates have managed to create a robot that can climb trees!
With a view to assisting humans in forestry environments, this robot relies purely on tactile sensors to navigate it’s way up a tree. This ability means that they can leave out complicated processing and associated hardware thus simplifying the design.
At the moment, this robot cannot calculate the most efficient path up the tree but optimizing the route that the robot takes, is an avenue for future research.
So, when robots finally rise up against their masters, you will have nowhere to hide.
So, when robots finally rise up against their masters, you will have nowhere to hide.
If you're accident prone, you'll probably be glad to let a robot prune your trees for you. Tin Lun Lam and his team at The Chinese University of Hong Kong are developing a worm-like robot to assist humans with forestry - or even replace them altogether.
Treebot is the first autonomous robot that can tackle climbing a tree that it has never encountered before. To achieve this, the team developed a system that uses tactile sensors to sense a tree's shape. Its design is inspired by inchworms: actuators in Treebot's body allow it to crawl up and down while a claw at each end lets it grip onto the trunk or branches.
Treebot uses touch sensors rather than cameras to sense its surroundings - an efficient system which saves on computational power. However touch information is more limited: Treebot can't detect which branches would provide the fastest route up a tree, for example. The team is now working on a way for the robot to optimise its path and make its way up faster.
Check out the link for a video of the tree climbing robot in action.