Paolo Robuffo Giordano and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, in Tübingen, Germany have developed a giant robotic arm that is basically a full motion F1 race car simulator. Subjects sit in a cabin on a robotic arm about 2 meters off the ground and drive a Ferrari F2007 car around a projected F1 track with force-feedback steering wheel and pedals. The robot arm is a Robocoaster, a modified six-axis Kuka KR 500 that can lift up to 500 kg. It’s usually found in amusement parks and normally does not allow users any control. Giordano and his collaborators want to use it to study how we perceive motion. “A motion simulation system is a fundamental tool to understand how humans experience the sensation of motion.” “By running suitable experiments, one can gain better insights into the cognitive processes of the human brain.” Video after the break. via BLDGBLOG and IEEE Spectrum
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Its been a week since the World Cup has ended and I thought we can remember it by looking back at the production of the soccer ball. It was always interesting to see how players would kick the soccer ball to make it bend in ways you think is not possible….part of this is achievable because of the uniformity of the football and its directional spin. I am in the process of assisting in research that is looking into what is the most efficient topology to obtain the greatest uniformity on a soccer ball. There a many ways of developing optimized or most roundest sphere…have a look at how Adidas does it with the production of the Jabulani.
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The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany can produce an artificial tornado by re-appropriating its internal ventilation system. I think this could be an interesting effect as an experience, but you have to wonder if its helpful to its occupants or was the goal to obtain the record for the Guinness Book of Records???
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Mercedes-Benz is muscling into the defense business: Today the German automaker has announced four new, heavily armored models. The concepts will be first shown on June 11th at Eurosatory, a European trade show for the defense industry.
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Organ printing seemed like a crazy sci-fi pipe dream when researchers first started tinkering with it a couple years back. But it’s set to make the leap into real-world use in just a few years. As Information Week reports, Organovo, a company based in San Diego, is working on one of the world’s first commercial 3-D organ printers. Organovo expects the first production models to ship this year to biomedical researchers. Up until now, Organovo has been angel funded, but soon, they’ll be raising VC funds for an expansion.
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