Robotics Blog » MIT

MIT’s Firefly Robots Create Floating 3D Display From Colored Micro Helicopters

Dan — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:52:19 +0000

MIT's Firefly Floating Helicopter

What an awesome display of swarm robotics. These self-organizing micro-bots organize themselves and emit the correct colors to form a free-floating image in the sky.
With a few hundred thousand of these you can create a fully immersive visual environment. Imagine watching a 3D 1080P movie with a few million of these surrounding you!

3D Images From Firefly Free Floating Helicopter Display

The Flyfire canvas can transform itself from one shape to another or morph a two-dimensional photographic image into an articulated shape. The pixels are physically engaged in transitioning images from one state to another, which allows the Flyfire canvas to demonstrate a spatially animated viewing experience. Flyfire serves as an initial step to explore and imagine the possibilities of this free-form display: a swarm of pixels in a space.

MIT Demos Autonomous, Navigating Robotic Helicopter – With Video!

Dan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:16:17 +0000

MIT’s RANGE, “Robust Aerial Navigation in GPS-denied Environments” Quad-Rotor Helicopter was the first to complete the fifth mission of the IARC aerial robotics competition.

It features a small laser scanner as well as a color camera and other sensors.

Watch it fly below.

“Scratch” Teaches Programming Concepts to Kids

Dan — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:36:53 +0000

It’s important to inspire the next generation to get interested in programming. In 2007, MIT’s Media Lab launched Scratch. Scratch is an educational programming language intended to teach kids programming concepts and allow them to easily create and share “interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art.”

With Scratch, it is easy to see how your program works and runs.

Scratch's ease of use makes it easy for anyone to begin programming.

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

If you know of a young person who is interested in learning how to program, consider introducing them to Scratch. Or, try it out for yourself! It’s free! Scratch.

Robotic Gardening at MIT – New Robots take care of Tomato Plants

Dan — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:54:32 +0000

Robots are tending to tomato plants at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). Nikolaus Correll, an MIT postdoc, has made a robot fitted with a watering pump and programmed to tend to tomato plants grown in the MIT’s CSAIL.

In the video above, the robots appear to be built on a modified Roomba with a long arm and water pump attached to a small water tank. When the plants signal for more water or nutrients, the robot receives their message and rolls over to service them.

Agriculture needs swarm computing. The effectiveness of this type of swarm computing could be staggering. Imagine large orange groves being maintained autonomously by these types of swarm robots. Reduced manpower, accidents, lower cost of production, and higher output would revolutionize agriculture.