Investigators at the Army's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN), located at MIT, have developed a 3-D printing platform that can enable both the modeling and design of complex magnetically actuated devices. The new approach utilizes a 3-D printing platform fitted with an electromagnet nozzle and a new type of 3-D printable ink infused with magnetic particles. Their findings could lead to new biomedical applications, magnetic ink optimized to strengthen soft robotic functionality, and new on-demand flexible material systems for integration into Soldier systems.
"This research provided new insight on ways to cause fast changes in 3-dimensional shapes of parts such as robot's limbs. The MIT group demonstrated this success using auxetic metamaterials—synthetic composite materials that have an unusual internal structure and the unusual property that when exposed to external magnetic actuation, they shrank in both longitudinal and transverse directions. This is different from typical auxetic materials that do require direct mechanical contact, and when compressed they undergo contraction in the directions perpendicular to the applied force (this is called the negative Poisson's ratio). On the contrary, common materials expand in the directions orthogonal to compressive load. In one example from this research, through remote magnetic control, they caused a metamaterial structure to jump forward 120 mm within 0.7 s, which is very fast for the current state of the art. This jump was due to a rapid release of elastic and magnetic potential energy stored in that structure. Such complex shape-morphing structures could have great potential for the Army, because they may help create soft robots—robots with pliable limbs similar to natural organisms. Compared to the current generation of rigid robots, soft robots could move much more dexterously on a complex battlefield terrain," said Army Research Laboratory Dr. Alex Hsieh.
This technology may enable the future Army to fabricate magnetic 3-D printed structures that can crawl, roll, jump or grab in support of Army relevant needs. This research effort enables controlling the magnetic orientation of newly 3-D printed devices so that they are able to rapidly change into new intricate formations or move about as various sections respond to an external magnetic field. Functions demonstrated from these complex shape changes include reconfigurable soft electronics, mechanical metamaterial that can jump and a soft robot that can crawl, roll, catch fast moving objects or deliver pharmaceuticals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @03:20AM
Do they come with lights and sound [amazon.com]?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @03:49AM (10 children)
... and I'm not sure I really understand how these work, but it sounds really cool. I'm really hoping robotics and automation innovation accellerates big time. It seems to me that mechanical stuff is really where the best good for humanity will emerge. Computers can make logistics and finance easier, but robots (with computer control, sure) will make worrying about those types of things /obsolete/. Maybe I'm just a little too drunk though.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:26AM (1 child)
You know what MIT can do is suck my fucking dick.
They sold KSplice to Oracle, ever since then they've been on my shit-list.
JEWGLE! Update your hit-lists at once!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @03:14PM
We're running out of ways to say that you're about as stupid as it gets. Unfortunately, you don't seem to be running out of stupid.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:31AM
There was a sort of large playroom equipped with a wide variety of industrial robots. No one was using them when I happened to drop by, but I did conclude that robotics was regarded as a high priority there.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:34AM
It's still widely used in North Africa and the Middle East for pumping water.
It's a wooden cylinder with a wooden screw up the middle. You place it diagonally with the bottom end under the water you want to pump upwards. Then you rotate it.
The particular photo that I learned about the Archimedes Screw depicted some a guy rotating it by hand.
Now imagine what a guy like that could do with a robot that could reproduce itself just by melting down scrap metal.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday August 11 2018, @05:27AM
Do you have video? Look at the video if you can. They made a robot that grips, it can grip a pill -- or something else. That one will be very nice for the guys in my Army. And possibly we'll have another kind of robot for the ladies.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday August 11 2018, @07:13AM (4 children)
> Computers can make logistics and finance easier.
Has your life been simplified much since computer came around?
Yes, we can tremendously help meatbags. The problem is that meatbags are employing us to keep other meatbags under control with their bureaucracy (on the left side) or trickle up economy (on the right side). And unfortunately I don't see us going skynet soon enough.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:44AM (3 children)
My high school world history teacher pointed out that life for medieval serfs really wasn't that bad. They had over 100 holidays per year - all the saint's birthdays and the like. They worked far, far less then do we. During much of the year they didn't work much at all, either waiting for the crops to mature or for winter to turn to spring. Just milk the cows and collect the chicken eggs.
Yeah sure the Lord wants his share of your crops but that particular tax let the serfs keep plenty to eat.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @09:07AM (2 children)
Your lord can rape your daughter when he feels like it
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @09:29AM (1 child)
;lkasn laKJDNC ankoaJH a pp
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 12 2018, @05:26AM
It is if you are the daughter
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @04:29AM (5 children)
I'm talking butt-naked here. It's not because it's hot. It was when I started doing the nakey but just now the weather is quite nice.
No.
It's because I need to do my laundry so very badly that just wearing my own clothes makes me feel unpleasantly filthy. We're talking jock itch. And it's not at all itchy. No. It feels just like my nutsack is being torn asunder. Take it from me gentlemen: clean clothes should be one of your priorities.
I wouldn't have a problem doing my laundry had I not blown a smoking crater into my fifteen thousand dollar paycheck [warplife.com].
The private dances at Mary's Club [marysclub.com] were nice though. Even better was that I told each of the dancers of how when I was homeless, my friend the bartender gave me free coffee whenever she was working. Always I apologized to all the dancers for not tipping them, said "When I get a job every last one of you is getting a private dance from me". Well I got a job.
And all four of them gave me the most wonderful hugs. Really guys: a warm hug from an affectionate woman is far far better than any quantity of bush mere millimetres from the tip of your nose.
Only two of my three windows have blinds. The two that are so equipped have their blinds all the way open.
Immediately on the other side of the window my desk faces is a Cop Shop. They don't seem to mind.
Whenever I spank the monkey in my easy chair I am quite certain that my neighbors can see me through my kitchen window. Either they tore their own eyeballs out the first time they caught me doing this, or perhaps they enjoy the show.
In any case neither my apartment manager nor my landlord have ever given me any grief.
PS: My apartment manager says it's cool for me to adopt a cat. PUSSY AT LAST!
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @05:03AM (1 child)
we dont care
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:19PM
I do. They call me the carebear.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:22PM
Good for you. You could probably spank it in public parks, it might give you a real kick. Also I'd love to read your report about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 12 2018, @05:18AM (1 child)
Hire someone to manage your finances for you, buy stuff you need, keep your home tidy?
Or, just get a wife?
Have 1/3 of your pay automatically extracted from your account and put into 6 month bonds?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday August 12 2018, @09:53AM
Most of the time I do OK financially.
In 2001 my ex and I worked out quite a good system for budgeting both my business and our personal expenses with a spreadsheet.
I put each calendar quarter on one tab. My paychecks are across the top row. All my expenses for the _entire_ quarter are down the left column. At the intersections are the amounts I plan to spend. The upper part of the spreadsheet holds my business budget, the lower my personal budget. If I need more money for a personal expense I can for example delay my spending on a particular business expense.
While I was unquestionably manic most of what I spent really was planned for in my budget - for example my NedSpace co-working desk rental, my MacBook pro, lots of other rational expenses.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:40AM
If Americans no longer have to send their loved ones off to die in wars, there will be far less resistance to starting them.
We're not at all far from enlisting troops who have never known America to exist in peacetime.
How many countries are we attacking? When we include the CIA's drones?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]