This week’s CMU Robotics Institute Seminar comes from assistant professor David Held, on Robots Learning to Understand Environmental Changes: Via computer controls, the autonomous unit is capable of performing motion tasks in almost any design. It was tested in a variety of robotic applications where it showed significant expansion-contraction ability, being capable of expansion up to 900% when electrically heated to 80☌. The solution combined the elastic properties and extreme volume change attributes of other material systems while also being easy to fabricate, low cost, and made of environmentally safe materials.Īfter being 3D-printed into the desired shape, the artificial muscle was electrically actuated using a thin resistive wire and low-power (8V). To achieve an actuator with high strain and high stress coupled with low density, lead author of the study Aslan Miriyev, a postdoctoral researcher in the Creative Machines lab, used a silicone rubber matrix with ethanol distributed throughout in micro-bubbles. The new material has a strain density (expansion per gram) that is 15 times larger than natural muscle, and can lift 1000 times its own weight. A group in the Creative Machines lab led by Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical engineering, has developed a 3D-printable synthetic soft muscle, a one-of-a-kind artificial active tissue with intrinsic expansion ability that does not require an external compressor or high voltage equipment as previous muscles required. Now if only they’d pick up the Mad Max license…įor more info, shoot over to the official site.Researchers at Columbia Engineering have solved a long-standing issue in the creation of untethered soft robots whose actions and movements can help mimic natural biological systems. ![]() Still, extended campaign play, expansions and the opportunity to crush your mates in an all-out road war means it’s just about worth the investment. The only thing that might give prospective racers pause is the price, which hovers around the $299 mark. Overall, Overdrive Fast & Furious is an absolute blast. ![]() Those jump pieces are actually part of an expansion bundle the good folks at Anki threw our way and are not included in the basic set, and yes, you can get additional track pieces to build as large and elaborate a set-up as you care to. Overall it’s really fun and a game I would recommend.” Despite the price this is amazing! It costs so much because of all the sensors and lights in the cars. In the game you get two pieces that are jump pieces, which means your car goes up one piece and jumps off to the other, which I find fun to do and exciting to watch. The thing I liked the most was the fact you could buy guns in the app and shoot the other players even though the guns were in the app. “I honestly got addicted to racing and battling with the cars. To test that, we had budding critic Róisín Farrell Treacy, age nine, put F&F Overdrive through its paces, and it seemed to pass muster: Yes, it’s a fairly violent, aggressive game, but the intuitive controls and simple set-up make it pretty kid-friendly. Having said that, the real fun is in going head to head with your mates in PVP battle mode. The conceit of the F&F edition, of course, is that you’re racing against the Toretto crew, with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, and Michelle Rodriguez all lending their voices to the experience. You don’t even need a friend to play – you can compete against the game’s AI. ![]() This is what really pushes up the playability factor here – Overdrive isn’t so much a racing game as a carnival of car combat, with up to four players vying to leave their opponents scattered across a wide swathe of bitumen. Oh, and there are guns, guys! You can load up your car with weapons and gadgets, from gatling guns to grappling hooks, tractor beams and nitro boosters, buying them from the in-game store with prize money accrued as you win your way up the campaign ladder. The AI keeps the cars on track during the race, but you can change lanes by tilting your phone, letting you maneuver around your opponent and even attempt sideswipes and blocking. Once you assemble the modular track, which snaps together easily using magnets, the game’s AI “maps” it, with the cars running a quick test lap before the race proper. The new wrinkle is that there’s no slot: the cars – Dom Toretto’s Ice Charger and Hobbs’ MXT in the F&F starter kit – are controlled by an app. Essentially a high-tech update of slot racing, if you ever spent a Christmas morning assembling an elaborate plastic racetrack you’ll get the gist of the game pretty quickly. Overdrive has actually been kicking around since 2015. Luckily, it was worth the wait Anki Overdrive: Fast & Furious is an absolute blast. It is flat-out unbelievable that it took some eight movies before somebody got around to licensing The Fast and the Furious for a racing game.
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