Yes, we have seen the ice spiders inside Am Mandalorian, ETH Zurich ‘s amazing ice skating machine, and even the homicidal ice cave robot called Box in the classic sci-fi thrush, Run Logan. But ice-made space robots set out to explore another world? That’s something we’d love to see!
The implementation of this IceBot idea may not be exactly what awakens us in our imaginative minds, but the cold concept certainly has value.
In a new study presented to the IEEE / RSJ International Conference on Robots and Intellectual Systems (IROS), scientists Devin Carroll and Mark Yim of the University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab have put out a proposal to put artificial parts made by frozen H2O to frozen exoplanets, where they can use local resources to repair themselves in the event of a breakdown.
Their interesting paper explores various methods of fabricating robotic structural parts from ice using addition and subtraction manufacturing processes, culminating in the development of a concept for machine- robot that is capable of displaying “self-alignment, self-reproduction, and self-repair.” . ”
Obviously, components like actuators and batteries would still be made up of standard materials, with only structural parts made of ice.
Check out the team’s experimental prototype in the video below. Their frozen IceBot vehicle advises the blades at a beefy 14 pound, but was able to crawl up a 2.5-degree hill with ease while moving left and right.
“One of the challenges in making robots for this field is that not only are robots expensive but the natural elements break time for them,” said the lead author. and UPenn robotics researcher Devin Carroll to IEEE Spectrum. “Mark and I began exploring the idea of building robots from materials found as a way to strengthen robotic systems operating in remote or hostile environments with a secondary goal to reduce the cost of the system.We finally settled on ice because of the flexibility design it gives us and the current interest in frozen, remote environments.
“There are many people interested in climate change in Antarctica and ice sheets while NASA and other space exploration groups are looking at the stars for ice and water. If we could build a robot from ice, it might be able to be used to help study frozen planets for life and data collection. ”
While far from realizing this winter machine, Carroll sees an arctic or planetary orbiting planetary orbit that includes self-altering or side-repair capabilities. inside a system using two types of robots. The first examines the environment and collects materials needed for self-improvement or repair, and the second is a type of handling / manufacturing system.
“We can imagine the study class of a robot returning to a centralized location with a demand for a crane or other lift and the manufacturing system will be able to connect the lift directly to the robot,” he adds. “Same with repair – if, for example, a robot recognizes a crack, the handler would be able to catch the crack with an ice band of some sort, sealing the crack and preventing it. on from moving further. “
Ice is a highly accessible material and could be widely used in dangerous environments where close-range robots experiment and monitor alien worlds. Of course, we all know what happened to Frosty the Snowman when the sun was hot that day.
“I would say that this has not been done before because of the uncertainty that comes with the use of ice,” Carroll notes. “Unlike traditional building materials, the designer does not a priori know what conditions will cause the ice to fail – we can make a learned measurement, but the margin for error is much higher.”