Robots Flex their Robotic Muscles at Robotics Day

A flying robot piloted by brainwaves is just one of the ingenious new devices coming out of a top US university. Students are showing off their latest creations at the Maryland Robotics Day including the Neuro Sky Mindset and a snake-inspired search-and-rescue robot.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

 
This flying robot might look like the best Christmas present ever but this is no toy. It is remotely piloted by brain power.

This mind-bending device is being taken through a test flight by robotics research students at the University of Maryland in the United States.

It is Maryland's Robotics Day, a chance for the students and researchers to show off their latest creations to the press and public.

Student Greg Gremillion, Ph.D, explains how his flying robot can be piloted:

"It's the Neuro Sky Mindset. It has four electrodes, three on your ear and one on your forehead and you just wear it like this."

Gremillion says the height of the helicopter can be controlled with the power of the mind:

"We're using electrical signals from the brain to determine a person's level of attention. And then using that to then control the height of a micro quad¹ rotor vehicle off of the ground."

This slithering robot is inspired by the movement of a snake. Interlocking sections unclip and reattach, propelling the snake bot along the ground slowly, but surely.

But there's a serious application for this clunky snake, as designer James Hopkins explains:

"Well because it's a snake-inspired design we expect it to go through rubble² into small spaces looking for possible victims of any kind of natural disaster."

After an earthquake, or other disruptive disaster, the snake bot could reach into places a human rescuer could never squeeze.

The robotics open day has attracted lots of young children, all fascinated by the robots. Satyandra Gupta, Maryland Robotics Centre's director says they may be inspired to be the robotic engineers of tomorrow:

"The general public is excited about the idea, intrigued³ by the idea there is a device with intelligence which can work with them, which can work for them and can do tasks which are pretty difficult."

The University has a range of facilities for students to test their designs to the limits, like its 367,000 gallon neutral buoyancy research tank.

Another team of student divers⁴ can work on their underwater robotic arm in a safe environment.

Eventually the team hopes the robotic arm will be used for underwater exploration.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 quad   

n.四方院；四胞胎之一；v.在…填补空铅

参考例句：

• His rooms were on the left-hand side of the quad.他的房间位于四方院的左侧。
• She is a 34-year-old mother of quads.她是个生了四胞胎的34岁的母亲。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

4 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。