Robotic arm uses "positive pressure" to work its magic
Ron Czapala
Posts: 2,418
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain made basketball history when he scored 100 points in a single game. Now, nearly 50 years later, there may finally be someone capable of beating that record. Well not a someone, but a something.
Cornell University, working via a grant from defense agency DARPA, has created a robotic arm capable of shooting baskets with stunning accuracy. But the arm doesn't use one of those outdated hands to grip objects. It uses an inflatable balloon.
The robotic arm uses "positive pressure" to work its magic. Basically, the sand-filled balloon on the end of the arm conforms to the shape of the object it wishes to pick up. Once the object is in place, a vacuum sucks the air out of the balloon, tightening the grip and locking the object in place. Using some complex physics calculations, the arm then rapidly re-inflates the balloon, sending the object flying whereever scientists want.
As you can see, the arm has some pretty stunning accuracy, scoring three perfect bullseyes in darts, and three baskets in less than 30 seconds. We're sure the military will find plenty of destructive uses for these kind of arms. But in the meantime, if you see a man in an army uniform walking around a carnival with a really big stuffed animal, you should get real suspicious about whether or not he had secret robotic help to score that prize.
Comments
It would be more impressive if the dart board was vertical