3 ms·

Gecko-Inspired Window Washing Robot is Powered Entirely by Water

21 points by eguizzo 15y ago

waratuman 15y ago
powered by "water pressure"
- bostonpete 15y ago
  Yeah, I was disappointed that we hadn't discovered a way to extract energy from water...
  - arethuza 15y ago
    Extract the deuterium from your water and we've been able to extract lots of energy from it for a long time (50+ years). Doing it in a nice controlled and easy to start fashion is the catch...
jpablo 15y ago
if battery weight is a problem, can't they attach a external power cord to it ? I mean it's not like the water pressure is coming from inside the robot.
JoeAltmaier 15y ago
...and it has a battery. To power the electronics and wireless - is it remote-operated? So no brains either. Its not a robot at all then. Its a servo.
jws 15y ago
(Sorry: too late to be read, noprocrast and comment posting timeout conspired against me.) I think the interesting part of this is the gait mechanism which is unaddressed in the article. A little experimentation with my fingers on the desktop confirms a single actuator to move the legs between two geometries, and the ability to turn suction on and off to the pads is sufficient to climb walls. (Turning probably requires that you can individually activate the pad suctions and have some flex available.) time ====> repeat - O O \ \ \ x x x |\ |\ |\ - O O | O | O | - / / / | | | x x x | - | O | O /| /| /| |/ |/ |/ O O | O | - | x x x \ | | | / / / x - | O | O | O O - |\ \| \| \| | - x x x | \ \ \ | O O O - |/ x / - odd toggle all even toggle all odd only position suck only position suck only suck actuator suck actuator suck

21 points by eguizzo 15y ago

bostonpete 15y ago
Yeah, I was disappointed that we hadn't discovered a way to extract energy from water...
- arethuza 15y ago
  Extract the deuterium from your water and we've been able to extract lots of energy from it for a long time (50+ years). Doing it in a nice controlled and easy to start fashion is the catch...

if battery weight is a problem, can't they attach a external power cord to it ? I mean it's not like the water pressure is coming from inside the robot.

JoeAltmaier 15y ago

...and it has a battery. To power the electronics and wireless - is it remote-operated? So no brains either. Its not a robot at all then. Its a servo.

jws 15y ago

(Sorry: too late to be read, noprocrast and comment posting timeout conspired against me.) I think the interesting part of this is the gait mechanism which is unaddressed in the article. A little experimentation with my fingers on the desktop confirms a single actuator to move the legs between two geometries, and the ability to turn suction on and off to the pads is sufficient to climb walls. (Turning probably requires that you can individually activate the pad suctions and have some flex available.) time ====> repeat - O O \ \ \ x x x |\ |\ |\ - O O | O | O | - / / / | | | x x x | - | O | O /| /| /| |/ |/ |/ O O | O | - | x x x \ | | | / / / x - | O | O | O O - |\ \| \| \| | - x x x | \ \ \ | O O O - |/ x / - odd toggle all even toggle all odd only position suck only position suck only suck actuator suck actuator suck