Robots roll, walk and swim through water pipes. Others imitate bizarre animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. Drones predict the strength of hurricanes. Robotics continues to make giant strides. Preview.
“Pipebots” to avoid excavations
Avoiding unnecessary excavations… and unforeseen water pipe breaks: this is the promise of British engineers with their Pipebots project. Several types of robots can roll, walk and swim through sewer, gas and water pipes. In a study published in November in the journal NDT and E International, researchers from the University of Bristol, England, show that a robot can detect 100% of the flaws in a 1 m diameter pipe. The project, launched in 2019, also promises to better locate buried pipes to avoid surprises during excavations.
Watch how pipebots inspect pipes
A medical pangolin
PHOTO FROM THE MAX-PLANCK INSTITUTE WEBSITE
Illustration of a pangolin and the surgical millirobot that the animal inspired
The pangolin, best known for its suspected role in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, could contribute positively to human health. German engineers have developed a “millirobot” that mimics the pangolin’s ability to move its scales over each other to change shape. This ability allows this millirobot, which measures 1 cm by 2 cm, to reach remote areas of the gastrointestinal system. Writing in Nature Communications last summer, researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart reported that it would be tested for therapy against cancer and internal bleeding.
Watch a model of the millirobot-pangolin (in English)
The bicycle man
PHOTO FROM THE ETH ZURICH WEBSITE
ANYmal on casters standing
He started his career in 2016 on four legs, then gained speed with four wheels. In 2020, he was able to stand tall. And now he can open doors and handle packages with his wheel hands. The ANYmal developed by the Zurich Polytechnic School (ETH) was entrusted in 2023 to the company Swiss Mile for marketing.
Watch ANYmal’s performance
An Ordovician robot
PHOTO FROM CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY WEBSITE
The pleurocystitid robot moves with its tail.
Paleorobotics wants to understand how strange animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago moved. Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a robot mimicking pleurocystitids, ancestors of starfish that appeared 500 million years ago. In PNAS in November, Pittsburgh researchers proposed that the pleurocystitid moved forward by flapping its tail.
Watch the robot-pleurocystitide (in English)
In the heart of hurricanes
PHOTO FROM NOAA WEBSITE
Saildrone test in rough waters
It is one of the most rapidly adopted technologies by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since 2021, NOAA has increased its hurricane study program from 5 to 12 autonomous Saildrone drones. Saildrones can measure the rate of heat transfer from the sea to the air at the heart of storms, essential for assessing the future strength of hurricanes. A record wind speed of more than 200 km/ha recorded in 2021 in the hurricane Sat by a Saildrone, with waves of more than 15 m.
Watch NOAA’s Saildrone in Hurricane Sat in 2021
Permanently in the abyss
PHOTO TAKEN FROM THE CNRS WEBSITE
The BathyBot before its deployment. Illustration of the BathyBot on the seabed.
France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has been operating the deepest permanent mobile robot on the planet since last spring. Installed 2400 m below the surface of the Gulf of Lion, on the Spanish border, the BathyBot will explore currents and variations in conditions, in particular the acidification of these poorly known areas. His mission is to last five years.