
Miniature Quadruped Robot Is Blazingly Fast - eguizzo
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/miniature-quadruped-robot-is-blazingly-fast#.Ua9NrsUv52Q.hackernews
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adlpz
How is this a quadruped and not a _wheeled_ robot with just a funny tire
design?

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NegativeK
There's an entire paragraph in the article that discusses that.

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leeoniya
am i the only one who gets annoyed by every "body-length : speed" and "body-
weight : carrying-capacity" comparison? these things don't scale, people! it's
_not_ amazing.

is it amazing that a spider can freefall from 10,000 ft (millions of body
lengths) and survive? no, it isn't.

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notmarkus
To be fair, every time I watch Darwin Beetles throwing each other out of giant
trees, I'm a little amazed.

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abecedarius
I'd buy one of these as a cat toy. Don't know if it'd work out, but something
like it ought to.

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jholman
While reading the not-very-interesting featured article, I saw a link that
ultimately led me to this, which HN might find more interesting:

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barobo/linkbot-create-
wi...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/barobo/linkbot-create-with-robots)

Modular robots for education, only $140! (I think they might have a pricing
problem)

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subb
I don't really understand my brain's response to small things.

Small dog/cat -> cute

Tarantula -> horrible

Small robot that goes as fast as a tarantula -> cute?

Anyway, that's pretty cool. They should put some sticky/rubbery material on
the tips of the legs to improve traction on smooth surfaces.

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Dove
It's not relative to absolute size -- it's relative to the average size of the
thing. Baby elephants are cute, even if full-grown dogs, being much smaller,
aren't.

A tarantula is not so much a small _thing_ as it is a HUGE _spider_. Tiny
spiders are actually cute. At least, as cute as spiders get, anyway.

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sbierwagen

      Only 6 millimeters in size each, the motors output 1.5 
      watts of power at 40,000 RPM, driving the individual whegs 
      through 16:1 planetary gearheads.
    

Huh. What's their max operating temp? How long can they run at 100% before
overheating?

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Matti
"What makes the robot wicked fast is the fact that it's got four independent
drive motors, each one of which has a power to weight ratio that's absolutely
bananas. Only 6 millimeters in size each, the motors output 1.5 watts of power
at 40,000 RPM, driving the individual whegs through 16:1 planetary gearheads.
They're not cheap (hundreds of dollars each), but they make for one crazy
little robot. And of course, independently driven whegs make the robot
smaller, lighter, simpler to steer, and generally more efficient overall"

What are my current alternatives if I want to build something similar and I'm
only willing to spend say $50 per drive motor?

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robomartin
Quadruped my ass.

Install off road RC car paddle wheels on this thing and it will perform the
same or better. It might even float! "Four leg robot fastest on water." Right.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=paddle+tires+for+rc+truck...](https://www.google.com/search?q=paddle+tires+for+rc+truck&hl=en-
US&espv=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&sboxchip=Images&source=univ&sa=X&ei=03GvUZWTEYf2igLupIG4Bw&ved=0CGsQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=672)

I am disgusted by this. University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins ought to be
ashamed. It's an insult to anyone working on real legged locomotion. Dishonest
at the very least. And, if the research is funded with public money tagged for
legged locomotion this is fraudulent as well. Sad.

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miga
Depending of the definition of the "leg" this robot has actually 4*6=24 legs.

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ctdonath
There are knobby protrusions on my car tires. By the definition at hand, my
car has hundreds of legs.

They're wheels, not legs.

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vital
This is one pretty pathetic misrepresentation. Only a kid could call this toy
"car" a robot.

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finnw
It _is_ a robot, just not a _quadrupedal_ robot.

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aethertap
That reminds me of this Bipedal human powered vehicle:

[http://blog.modernmechanix.com/cast-off-shoes-make-tires-
for...](http://blog.modernmechanix.com/cast-off-shoes-make-tires-for-rough-
rider-bicycle/)

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quad_copter_cat
The animal! The animal! Can anything stop the animal?
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IRCaE3ks6Y>

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deelowe
Am I missing something? All I see is an rc car.

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notdrunkatall
I want one that's about a hundred times this size.

