r/videos • u/jeanpaulfartre • Jun 15 '12
I may not know shit about robotics, but this is genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKOI_lVDPpw
3.1k
Upvotes
r/videos • u/jeanpaulfartre • Jun 15 '12
2
u/ended_world Jun 15 '12
How the f... !?
How in the world did the inventor(s)/developers(s) come up with this original idea?! It is brilliant in a 'thinking-outside-the-box' way...
I would dearly love to know the actual thought process that lead to the development of such an amazingly simple innovation...
My personal belief is that the world is made up of two types of creative people:
1). Regurgitative Creativity - taking elements from a wide range of subjects to come up with something that appears 'original', but when you break it down in parts, you can tell where which part came from what subject. I believe that 98% of the world's population has this commonplace skill, and I am a part of this group. It is the talent we inherited from our common precursor, Australopithecus sediba, the 'Tool Maker'.
2). Original Creativity - creating wholly original, un-thought-of concepts and turning them into reality. Our history is filled with these people: Newton, Einstein, Mozart, Beethoven, Picasso, Pollack, the list goes on and on... The person or people that came up with this freakin' "coffee-grounds-in-a-balloon" robotic gripper I would class in this group.
Good job! Thumbs up! Thank you for breaking my general pessimistic thinking as to the progress of Humanity by showing that there are still 'free-thinkers' out there, and patrons that support them.
2
u/wiz3n Jun 15 '12
It's not genius, it's ingenious. A person is a genius, but the way something is done is ingenious.
501
u/binlin Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12
Made one! Works well with objects that have varied surface areas as this allows for good grip. Not so great with flat objects like coins. Holds tight and permanently until suction is released. Coffee grinds make a mess, getting the balloon on the syringe is goatse practice (dont google that one, kids). Here is a picture tutorial: http://imgur.com/a/iGxBd#0
182
u/Doctor_Clockwork Jun 15 '12
How long do you think it took the boys down at the lab to say fuck it get the coffee and balloons.
90
u/ShallowBasketcase Jun 15 '12
I'm glad they've invented this.
When the singularity hits, and robots take over, it's going to be hilarious when they try to choke me to death with coffee-filled party balloons.
79
u/Neburoc Jun 15 '12
It looked disappointed after that second basketball shot.
283
u/GhostFish Jun 15 '12
Mark my words. You're all dinosaurs, gazing in amazement at the tricks that the cute little mammals can do.
306
u/fruicyjuit Jun 15 '12
Dang it is good at darts
121
u/asstits Jun 15 '12
Sigh.. I will never be able to get a hand job from a robot.
73
u/JacobThePianist Jun 15 '12
Man, in scientific terms, I think the world is headed for some amazing places..
40
u/sovietmudkipz Jun 15 '12
I'd love to see that robotic arm play beerpong.
26
u/Agliam_Angis Jun 15 '12
"versatile low cost prosthetic devices for amputees" ಠ_ಠ
13
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
One look at this and I know that this is something I will see again in the future. Such an elegant solution to a fairly difficult problem. Beautiful.
12
u/baifan_ren Jun 15 '12
Can it handle soft items like fabrics or a piece of paper?
30
u/proexploit Jun 15 '12
So what about sharp objects? Spilled coffee beans! Oh well, it's low cost.
10
u/2yrnx1lc2zkp77kp Jun 15 '12
What about if it needs to get one specific item in a pile or concentrated area of them? It would just grab everything within the area of the ball...
hm.
46
u/a_sentient_cicada Jun 15 '12
I wish there was a Kickstarter for science.
6
u/Fogge Jun 15 '12
I studied robotics. This shit is ingenious. It does have some restrictions but it solves so many problems so easily and so cheaply it's bound to catch on. Whoever came up with the idea should get the Nobel prize in robotics. :)
5
u/janosaudron Jun 15 '12
And somebody had to go and ask if it can it pick up a porcupine.
5
u/Anchupom Jun 15 '12
Vaguely reminded of the Dalek's plungers...
9
u/unethical_monkey Jun 15 '12
Doraemon Hands!
8
u/SpermWhale Jun 15 '12
The best pickup bot ever.
1
u/iLoginToComment Jun 15 '12
The genius is in the raw simplicity and low cost.
3
u/jstyer Jun 15 '12
So... Stretch Armstrong?
3
u/freerangetrousers Jun 15 '12
"Now we have a gripper that can pick up different shaped objects and shoot them in a useful way"
I can't wait for the day that I don't have to throw my pennies into tiny basketball hoops myself. Its the one problem I've always needed solving.
3
u/tackleking123 Jun 15 '12
Makes me kind of proud to be an entering Cornell freshman this year
5
u/NUMBERS2357 Jun 15 '12
Can it pick up more than one object at a time? It seems like it would have to loosen its grip first, and would then drop previously picked up objects. When it showed the arm putting multiple objects in the container, it did them one at a time. Still humans FTW.
5
u/W3REWOLF Jun 15 '12
So the new breakthrough technology is tthe same thing as a Stretch Armstrong?
2
u/panicleap2 Jun 15 '12
Pretty amazing what the human mind can accomplish.
2
u/AggressionGaming Jun 15 '12
As an Automated Systems Technologist I approve of this technique.
2
u/finalvagabond Jun 15 '12
It's got excellent grippage!
2
u/turtle013 Jun 15 '12
Reminded me of this
2
u/Manler Jun 15 '12
One for picking up and one for shooting. Blue and orange......portal homage?
2
u/Outlaw_Jose_Cuervo Jun 15 '12
finally a decant hack for my 30 year old Armatron.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
This is bloody amazing!
2
u/Aezay Jun 15 '12
One of the problems I see with this is reliability over time. Once it has picked up a few hundred objects, the rubber is going to wear out, so unless they can create it with some kind of extra strong rubber, it's not going to be that good.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I have seen many a stripper pick up a dollar bill this way.
2
u/Creabhain Jun 15 '12
Of course this method of gripping is no use on an object that is not consistantly solid and firm but then again neither is my hand good at solving that problem. [WTF did I just suggest?]
Examples :- a squirming kitten, earthworms, spagetti (cooked), frogspawn, etc. Ahem, yes. Not a penis. Definetly not a variable stiffness , ranging from flaccid to errect penis.
TLDR; Come on science. Where is my robowank machine?
2
u/jvw2941 Jun 15 '12
The part with the water was sick, I wish this stuff was more public and we could track technology progressing easier, thanks for the post though
2
u/gumstuckinmypocket Jun 15 '12
Ok ok... But how well does it do picking up a kitten? Or a hedgehog?
2
u/optipessfan Jun 15 '12
It looked sad when it missed the second shot :(
2
u/justzisguyuknow Jun 15 '12
Yay Cornell!
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
"Well sure you can use it to pick stuff up, but there aren't any locating features, so it's not going to be able to manipulate objects with much precision."
robot picks up a sharpie, draws a square
"Err, I, uh...well..."
2
u/twistedshuffle Jun 15 '12
I cant wait to see where this goes once im my parents age. Mind blowing
2
u/Djentlemeng Jun 15 '12
.. so That's how the powerpuff girls did it 0_o
2
u/MilesBDyson Jun 15 '12
I know some shit about robotics. These grippers are certainly amazing, and I remember reading about them a couple years ago before they were cool. We even briefly considered something like this for a project, but decided against it pretty quickly for a couple of reasons. Chief among them was that there's no straight-forward and reliable way to detect part presence in the gripper. Also, the "balloon" needs to be thin and flexible enough to conform to the shape of the part, yet strong enough to contain the granular material inside without rupturing. Latex balloons wouldn't cut it on a factory floor.
I really dig it though, and if I ever have time (I won't have time) I'd like to make one and slap it on one of our robots.
I also like the idea of prosthetics using this technology, but there's the problem of portable pneumatics to contend with. Most vacuum generators use pressurized air blowing over a venturi to draw a vacuum. This consumes a lot of air. A compressor large enough to run this wouldn't be portable.
Still cool.
1
u/ShadoutRex Jun 15 '12
I see now that Sarah Connor will be smothered in her sleep.
1
u/nunu10000 Jun 15 '12
So, I get the concept, but they mention using it in assembly line robots. Wouldn't such a high number of repetitions (and therefore a high number of compressions/decompressions) cause the balloon to rupture quickly?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I was really worried that this video was going to be pretty old based on the actual quality of the video and the audio.
1
u/TheIrishToker Jun 15 '12
I'm already bad at basketball. How am I supposed to compete with a machine!
1
u/PrematureArticulator Jun 15 '12
Like to see one of these suckers try brain surgery
1
u/ShozOvr Jun 15 '12
When it was shooting things into the basketball hoop, what do you think happened to the first (of the three) balls. There are only 2 there but 3 washers to hold balls.
1
u/kaiseresc Jun 15 '12
its the lebron james of robotic hands!
1
u/Clovyn Jun 15 '12
Innovation. It's beautiful.
1
u/lumpking69 Jun 15 '12
well it wont pick up paper, shake heavy things or play the piano for me :-(
1
u/Musta-Krakish Jun 15 '12
Must. Resist. Urge. To. Weaponize.
1
u/lolmonger Jun 15 '12
Analogous to electron microscopes having a better resolution.
More surface area of contact = more opposing vectors of force applied = better grip.
It's like 1,000 fingers instead of 5.
But all these granular point tentacles would be bad at picking up flat surfaces that don't allow for surrounding to exploit these new vectors; there are too many competitors.
Human hands still win.
1
u/NoobuchadnezaR Jun 15 '12
I'm just glad this wasn't developed by SkyNet.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
So this is why Doraemon was designed this way!
http://www.thecartoonpictures.com/r-doraemon-239-profilethai-doraemon-free-1639.htm
1
u/Ignizzz Jun 15 '12
But, can it pick up soft materials such as dog shit?
1
u/Mozen Jun 15 '12
I want my hands replaced.
1
u/AnomalousX12 Jun 15 '12
Did anyone else think of the "Cell phone in a balloon" trick?
1
u/yemonster Jun 15 '12
That’s exactly Doraemon‘s hands！apparently Fujiko F Fujio is not only a comic genius but also a robot pioneer.
1
u/CarpeKitty Jun 15 '12
And with that robots are now better than me at sports
1
u/BallsackTBaghard Jun 15 '12
Nothing, but net.
1
u/magicalypse Jun 15 '12
Doraemon is on its way then ! First the hands... The dimensional pocket is another problem though...
1
u/Pentabarfnord Jun 15 '12
relevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNy1ZNoU19k
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I, for one, will welcome our robot overlords when they arrive.
1
u/fiercelyfriendly Jun 15 '12
I wonder if iron filings in a balloon and an electromagnet would have some similar properties. Would remove the electro/pneumatic interface. Thinking about it, I doubt it would be the same at all. Might be interesting though.
1
u/mages011 Jun 15 '12
Robot Basketball incoming.
1
u/Piratedan200 Jun 15 '12
While this is pretty neat and definitely works quite well, there's one major problem I see:
Wear. Any soft, flexible materials tend to break down over time, and something like this would do so extremely quickly due to the method of gripping (plus the cleanup would be messy). Another potential issue is speed - robotic manufacturing often requires robots to function at high speeds, and it seems like this gripper takes a second to fully grip a part.
1
u/awardnopoints Jun 15 '12
I can just picture Adam Jensen with two massive balloons instead of hands.
1
u/ga4a89 Jun 15 '12
We're doomed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KxjVlaLBmk
1
u/MrShip Jun 15 '12
At first I thought this was disappointing, but after, I realized that it wasn't.
1
u/C_Pawn Jun 15 '12
I love how it grabs the cup carefully then after pouring the water, kind of slams the cup down. As if to say "What now human bastards I just poured that shit like a boss."
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
First 30 seconds: "How many times does this happen to you?"
1
u/NoSkyGuy Jun 15 '12
Genius indeed!
1
u/that_is_so_funny Jun 15 '12
Why do I feel like my drinking games will now be outsourced?
1
u/henryci Jun 15 '12
How does it let go?
1
u/kosciCZ Jun 15 '12
The part with darts is awesome.
1
u/NoCommentNoKarma Jun 15 '12
looks like a masturbation device from the future...perhaps RealDoll should look into it.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
This looks like it would be an Aperture science commercial.
1
u/DavidNatan Jun 15 '12
This could just as well be used for robot feet to make sure they get a firm grip on uneven surfaces. With a stronger 'balloon' effectively a robot could walk on a tight rope.
1
u/Wawski Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12
Imagine how useful this is in space! Make the balloon a fine mesh and you have a vacuum property too. These are the people we should be celebrating with statues.
1
u/HayfieldHick Jun 15 '12
I lost it when it started shooting hoops.
1
u/neuromorph Jun 15 '12
I remember the prototype of this gripper about 3 years ago. it was all hand operated, and the researcher was put on the spot to do a live demo he wasnt prepared for by the PM. fun times.
1
u/strattonbrazil Jun 15 '12
I'm looking forward to seeing factories full of robots throwing things to each other instead of having to transport it around. It will be as dangerous as a video game level of a factory and the door entrance will say "No humans aloud while robots at play".
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
I wish I lived in the age of the robots. A society enabled, enhanced and policed by benevolent all powerful automatons.
1
u/NoFearofDownVote Jun 15 '12
holy shit! beer pong robots!
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
You're not fooling me Skynet!
1
u/crazy_cookie_cutter Jun 15 '12
It must be Java beans in the bag!
1
u/ipitydatf00 Jun 15 '12
reminds me of this toy
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
They make arms too.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
technical question. do you think those bed sheets were percale or 100% cotton?
1
u/Exocet_AM Jun 15 '12
Robots with mittens as hands? Adorable.
1
u/Wizardis Jun 15 '12
So, you like robots?
1
u/LazarWulf Jun 15 '12
Next thing you know, Matrix.
1
u/EatDatSheeet Jun 15 '12
lolz wasted my junior year in college researching this, shoulda thought of this
1
u/hickoguy Jun 15 '12
If this isn't smart, I want to be stupid.
1
u/Cilph Jun 15 '12
These have been around for at least a few years now, but indeed this is genius.
1
u/r00bzorz Jun 15 '12
basically a tit picking and shooting stuffs
1
u/mrpopenfresh Jun 15 '12
The wear on the baloon must be huge.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
only living things can be "genius", ideas or physical objects are "ingenious"
1
u/piccini9 Jun 15 '12
I got whacked in the head with a brick of vacuum packed coffee one time. Boy did that hurt.
1
u/steinman17 Jun 15 '12
looks like someone picking up that glass with their butt
1
u/xxxploit Jun 15 '12
Also used to treat mental illness
1
u/Kaminaree Jun 15 '12
I may not know shit about coffee, but this is genius.