Hello, future IKEA Swedish meatballs! How are you this Friday? Ready to be torn to bits by sharp, gnashing, robotic teeth? I bet you are. In this exciting edition of TIDWRTWHUFOO we meet some tiny flying robots, some big climbing robots, and some bigger flying robots.
First, say hello to the DelFly Explorer. This teeny weenie little flying robot weighs 4 grams – as much as four sheets of paper – and flies autonomously around the room using on-board computing and vision to keep the robot from crashing into anything. All of the processing power is on board the ultralight robot and it moves by flapping its funny little wings. But don’t let it hear you calling it funny. It will cut you. You can learn more about it here.
Think you can escape from the DelFly by climbing a tree? Not so fast, buster. Take a look at RiSE from Boston Dynamics, a six-legged robot that can climb walls, hump over ledges, and even jump from tree to tree. It’s a little old, but it tells you just what Google has in store for us when we get out of line in the woods.
Finally we see these exciting flying robots that self-right themselves when they’re thrown in the air. The InstantEye from PSITactical is a tool for creating instant vantage points above a scene without having to take the time to launch devices into the air. I can also imagine them self-righting after we smack at them with baseball bats. Again… and again… and again.