jvkvkvkvhjkhj A rather unusual electrical unilateral teleoperator is the Serpentuator (Serpentine Actuator) under development at Marshall Space Flight Center (fig. 109 above). The Serpentuator consists of links several feet long separated by joints driven by electric motors, or, in one version, electrohydraulic actuators. With maximum deflections of about 20° per joint, the teleoperator can be …
PROJECT MERCURY CONVERTED CAPSULE A second concept for a nonantropomorphic-type space suit would essentially be constructed from off-the-shelf items. It would be possible to utilize the Project Mercury Space Capsule and re-entry body as a space suit for assembly, maintenance, or similar-type functions. To do this, the major additions to the system would merely be …
Above: Keith Clark demonstrates his design for an innovative end effector which would inflate inside, and so grip, a tubular truss structure. Back in 1978, another type of end effector under study for the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) was actually a balloon. The sort of aluminium truss beams proposed for use in space construction …
A good example of the "big iron" approach to mobile robots is AMBLER (acronym for Autonomous MoBiLe Exploration Robot), developed by Carnegie Mellon University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This behemoth stands about 5m (16.4ft) tall, is up to 7m (23.0ft) wide, and weights 2500 kg (5512 lb). It moves at a blistering 35 cm …
Sweaty Manny by Arthur Fisher Popular Science – Sep 1988 Manny. One of the most complex and sophisticated computer-controlled movable robots ever designed, as seen in the photos above, is being built at Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Wash. "Manny," for robotic mannequin, is so humanlike that it even sweats. "In its final form," says …