| ▲ The reachbot that catches rock samples by stretching the tape measure long (Photo = Stanford University) | ||
Spider-Man flies through the air shooting webs from his wrists.
Researchers at Stanford University announced that they have developed a ‘ReachBot’, a robot that can stretch a tape measure from its body like Spider-Man shoots a spider web from his wrist. At the end of the tape measure, there is a gripper that can hold objects. Reachbot does not move using wheels or tracks to grab a distant object, but lengthens a tape measure.
Stanford University’s Biomimetics & Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory is working on a Reachbot development project in cooperation with the Autonomous Systems Lab and NASA.
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| ▲ Grabbing and dragging a rock with a gripper (Photo = Stanford University) | ||
The research team hopes to use the reachbot to explore rough terrain, such as underground caves, while overcoming natural obstacles. NASA expects this robot to arrive on planets such as Mars in the future and be used to grab distant objects.
The LichBot has a boom made up of four tape measures that are lightweight and extensible. The gripper attached to the end of the tape measure arm is designed to pull objects in rough terrain such as rocky terrain. Extend the tape measure lengthwise to grab a nearby rock sample and pull it.
The research team demonstrated a technique of holding a rock sample with three robotic arms and then pulling the object with a fourth arm. According to the research team, the Reachbot is currently in the initial design stage, and it is still too early to go to planets such as Mars.
