Plant-controlled machete
By Charles Carter, 04/10/22 Innovator artist David Bowen has enabled a living philodendron houseplant to control the movements of a robotic machete through the plant’s electrical signals. The piece poses the interesting question – if it were possible, should we be arming the natural world so it can protect itself against destruction? The installation was […]
Bee-like aerial 3D printing
By Charles Carter, 03/10/22 Engineers from Imperial College London have created a team of bee-like drones capable of 3D printing structures while in mid-air. Such a system could enable more efficient 3D printing of buildings, especially in hard to reach locations. The drones mimic aerial builders in nature such as bees, that deposit layer upon […]
Up-turned pyramid Earthscraper concept
By Charles Carter, 02/10/22 In 2009, Mexican architecture firm BNKR dreamed up an underground Earthscraper concept for Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City. It aims to provide new commercial and living space while respecting the character of the historic area. The plaza is in need of new infrastructure but no empty plots are available, […]
Tesla reveals humanoid bot Optimus
By Charles Carter, 01/10/22 Tesla revealed two working prototypes of its humanoid bot Optimus during a live AI event on Friday. To begin with, the company will use the bot in their factories to automate dangerous, repetitive and boring task, before widening out the applications. They are aiming to have Optimus on general sale to […]
Ocean Cleanup unveils System 03: Three times bigger
By Charles Carter, 30/09/22 Non-profit foundation The Ocean Cleanup has unveiled a concept of the third iteration of its ocean rubbish collection system which is three times bigger than its previous contraption. They have so far harvested over 100k kilograms of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) with System 002, but their models […]
Bipedal bot achieves 100m world record
By Charles Carter, 29/09/22 Engineers at Oregon State University (OSU) have achieved the 100m Guinness World Record for a bidpedal bot using the Cassie platform built by OSU spin out Agility Robotics. The bizarre looking two-legged machine with no torso, head or arms, powered across OSU’s Whyte Track and Field Center in a cool 24.73 […]
Portable e-bike conversion kit
By Charles Carter, 28/09/22 Innovators at Lithuania’s Rubbee have created a simple e-bike conversion kit that uses a small rubber drive wheel to transmit power to the rear bike wheel through friction. The team secured over $170k in crowdfunding through campaigns in 2013 and 2018 on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, culminating in the latest Rubbee X […]
NASA smash spacecraft into asteroid in planetary defense test
By Charles Carter, 27/09/22 Innovators at NASA have smashed their DART spacecraft into asteroid moonlet Dimorphos in the world’s first planetary defense test of asteroid deflection. They aim to prove that humanity can change the course of future asteroids that are headed for earth to avoid disaster, by intentionally hitting them with spacecraft. The team […]
Zero gravity spinning waterslide
By Charles Carter, 26/09/22 Engineering innovators at Aquapark Reda, Poland and German designers Wiegand.Waterides built a spinning waterslide that creates moments of weightlessness. The AquaSpinner slide opened in 2020 and was awarded 1st place for Europe’s Best New Water Slide as part of the European Star Awards 2020. How does it work? The slide is […]
Six-armed apple harvester
By Charles Carter, 25/09/22 Innovators at US startup advanced.farm are developing an automated apple harvester that uses computer vision and suction cups to pick almost 30 pieces of fruit a minute. They are transferring technology from their more established robotic strawberry picker to solve apple harvesting challenges, through a $460k 3-year R&D grant from the […]