

'Hedgehog' Robots Hop, Tumble in Microgravity - herendin
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4712&again

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tacon
Who knew it was so easy to hack the duplicate algorithm on Hacker News? Just
toss in any query parameter, such as "&again" to a previously submitted link.
Brings new life to something that was previously submitted less than a day
ago.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178641](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178641)

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hedgehog
Very clever. Besides the name (which is clearly well chosen) the idea of
putting the moving parts on the inside where they can be sealed and protected
from dust, evaporation of lubricants, etc seems like a really good idea.

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monk_e_boy
I wonder how much energy rotating a flywheel to move compares to something
like a snake or fish? I'd've thought wiggling around would be less
energetic... but maybe a cube covered with solar panels would work better.

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Asbostos
Part of it could be regenerated, though these ones are using mechanical
brakes. Though, is energy use really a serious limitation in a lander/rover?
These things hang around for months or more, so they can recharge from the sun
just by waiting a bit.

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ori_b
The longer they wait, the more dust settles, and the less energy they produce.

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lucio
A nice video on the cubli:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_6p-1J551Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_6p-1J551Y)

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kirk21
Swarmbots (eg multiple robots that act as a swarm) are really cool
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOubyiITsE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJOubyiITsE)

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nkrisc
While not a perfect simulation, anyone who's played Kerbal Space Program has
probably learned the benefits of this method of locomotion.

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atldev
For some entertaining sci-fi applications of this sort of tech, you should
check out Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.

