In 1967, as space-age fantasies ignited imaginations across the globe, the then Philco-Ford, now Ford Motor Company, attempted to capture the future’s heart and soul in a brief cinematic journey. The film titled “1999 AD” catapulted its audience three decades into the future, offering a tantalizing glimpse of everyday life for a quintessential American family, the Shores. Viewing this projection of the future now, the film emerges as a treasure trove of intriguing insights – a harmonious blend of eerily accurate predictions and glaring blind spots, seasoned with the unmistakable charm of the 1960s.
Category: Robotics
Climate change is a topic that’s discussed more and more frequently as the effects of human interactions with the planet begin to manifest. There has been a rise in natural disasters and temperature fluctuations. The previous balance that existed in ecosystems is now deteriorating, and the solutions to mitigate further problems are now delving into the realm of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
When the coronavirus burst onto the scene, healthcare professionals and robotics experts partnered to implement out-of-the-box solutions to pressing needs. In Wuhan, China, a test run of a field hospital staffed by robots took place. The machines, provided by tech company CloudMinds, delivered necessities and medicines and even entertained patients.
Over the course of a decade, technology has rapidly progressed, especially when it comes to robotics. Robots have helped us better investigate and understand space, have made innovation in education more readily available, and some robots have even developed the ability to physically evolve.
On August 6, 2012, at 05:17 UTC, NASA has successfully landed a Mini-Cooper-sized rover, Curiosity, on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars. The 900-kg rover (899 kg, to be exact, which is 1,982 lbs) is equipped with six 50 cm (20 in) diameter wheels in a rocker-bogie suspension (see notes 1). For the first time in the history of space exploration, the suspension system also served as landing gear for the vehicle, unlike its smaller predecessors.
Curiosity “soft-landed” (wheels down) on the surface of Mars. But, even it’s called “soft-landing”, the touchdown speed was 0.6739m/s vertical and 0.044m/s horizontal, which could damage the wheels. Plus, while the rover is moving, the wheels should withstand the substantial damage through the rough Martian surface. That’s why the wheels of the Curiosity rover have been one of the biggest technical difficulties encountered on the mission (see notes 2).
Those of us who have grown up reading Asimov’s robot series are quite informed about what robots can accomplish. While that’s only a reel representation, it definitely points to an abundance of opportunities in the realm of space research.