Robo HiveRobo HiveRobo HiveRobo Hive
  • Home
  • RobotsIn this section you will find a wide range of popular Self Build & Ready Assembled Robotics products to suit everyone’s taste. Building a robot from a kit is the perfect foundation for any Robotics experience. In fact, when you build and assemble a robot kit, you learn about core STEM subjects, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Robot kits are a lot of fun and make excellent educational gifts. For more advanced enthusiasts wanting to create their own robots from scratch, please visit our Robot Parts section.
  • Robot PartsDesigning a robot from scratch can be a very rewarding project, but can be a little overwhelming to the beginner robot builder. Chassis kits provide a good starting point to which you can add your choice of parts. Some platforms include wheels, motors and parts bundles. If you are creative, consider making your own base with the easy to use Sintra PVC boards. Perhaps design your own robot arm or a walking robot, using the large assortment of aluminium hardware brackets, rails and plates. Arm gripper kits and robot leg kits are available too. Our small electronic kits are ideal for beginners as an introduction to the techniques of soldering components and simple circuit boards. To power your robot, batteries are available in different types and sizes. Perhaps consider a solar powered robot? Solar panels are a great alternative and can be linked in series or parallel to increase voltage and current. Linking batteries in series increases voltage while linking in parallel increases the available current.
    • Batteries
    • Motors & Wheels
    • Sensors
    • Controllers
    • Radio
  • Robot AppsRobot Apps are used to control your robot and give your robots their intelligence. Some Apps allow you to generate pre-programmed movement sequences, others are used for remote control, and software development platforms are used to make more sophisticated autonomous control systems.
  • EducationActive Robots are embracing education. We have products to suit all abilities and needs, from Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, through to University Level.Our aim is to encourage and develop technology in schools and cross curriculum learning. To promote the desire, to explore, stimulate the imagination and learn STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Through a hands on engaging experience to encourage a whole range of interactive learning. To share ideas, investigation, observation, predicting, problem solving, collecting data and describing outcomes to understand basic principles. We have a wide selection of affordable educational products for class led, group or individual learning. From simple starter kits to advanced kits including links for added learning and optional extra activities, teachers notes, design briefs, extensive support material. A wide selection of individual parts, including Raspberry Pi and parts to enable you to build your own computer or parts to build your own robot, with USB Ports, smart phone compatible and WIFI , As well as high end Robots, including the Nao Robot and the Baxter Research Robot and Virtual Robots simulation, enabling students to learn programming.
  • Blog

Models of dinosaur movement could help us build stronger robots and buildings

    Home News Models of dinosaur movement could help us build stronger robots and buildings
    NextPrevious

    Models of dinosaur movement could help us build stronger robots and buildings

    By robonews | News | 0 comment | 19 October, 2018 | 0


    Researchers are using computer simulations to estimate how 11 different species of extinct archosaurs such as the batrachotomus might have moved. Image credit: John Hutchinson

    By Sandrine Ceurstemont

    From about 245 to 66 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Although well-preserved skeletons give us a good idea of what they looked like, the way their limbs worked remains a bigger mystery. But computer simulations may soon provide a realistic glimpse into how some species moved and inform work in fields such as robotics, prosthetics and architecture.

    John Hutchinson, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics from the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire, UK, and his colleagues are investigating the locomotion of the earliest, small dinosaurs, as part of the five-year-long Dawndinos project which began in 2016.

    ‘These dinosaurs have been hugely neglected,’ Prof. Hutchinson said. ‘People – including me – have mostly been studying the celebrity dinosaurs like T. rex.’

    About 225 million years ago, during the late Triassic period, these small dinosaurs were in the minority, whereas the bigger crocodile-like animals that lived alongside them were more numerous and diverse. Dinosaurs somehow went on to thrive while most other animals from that period became extinct.

    Compared to their quadrupedal, heavy-built contemporaries, what stands out about these early dinosaurs is that they had an erect posture and could, at least intermittently, walk on two limbs. One theory is that their style of locomotion gave them a survival edge.

    ‘The idea of this project is to test that idea,’ Prof. Hutchinson said.

    The team has started to develop computer simulations to estimate how 11 different species of extinct archosaurs – the group of animals that includes crocodiles, birds, their relatives and dinosaurs – might have moved. They will focus on five different types of motion: walking, running, turning, jumping and standing.

    Simulations

    To test whether their simulations are accurate, the researchers plan to give the same treatment to their living relatives – crocodiles and birds – as well. They will then compare the results to actual measurements of motion to determine how good their computer models of extinct animals are.

    ‘It will be the first time we ground-truth (test with empirical evidence) these methods very rigorously with the best possible data we can get,’ Prof. Hutchinson said.

    So far, they’ve modelled the movement of a Mussaurus – an early cousin of giant plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs such as Brontosaurus. The Mussaurus was much smaller and researchers wanted to see whether it moved on four legs like its larger relatives. The first reconstructions of the animal had it on four legs because it had quite big arms, said Prof. Hutchinson.

    Using scans of well-preserved fossils from Argentina, they were able to produce new models of its movement. Prof. Hutchinson and his team found that it was in fact bipedal. It couldn’t have walked on four legs since the palms of its front limbs faced inwards and the forearm joints weren’t capable of rotating downwards. Therefore, it wouldn’t have been able to plant its front legs on the ground.

    ‘It wasn’t until we put the bones together in a 3D environment and tried playing with their movements that it became clear to us that this wasn’t an animal with very mobile arms and hands,’ Prof. Hutchinson said.

    After modelling the large forearm of the Mussaurus, the Dawndinos team realised that it could not be used for walking. Video courtesy: John Hutchinson

    Robotics

    The simulations produced during the project could be useful for zoologists. But they could have less obvious applications too, for example, helping to improve how robots move, according to Prof. Hutchinson.

    Accurate models are needed to replicate the motion of animals, which robotics researchers often take inspiration from. Mimicking a crocodile, for example, could be of interest to create a robot that can both swim and walk on land.

    Prof. Hutchinson also regularly gets contacted by film and documentary makers who are interested in using his simulations to create realistic animations. ‘It’s hard to make bigger, or unusual, animals move correctly if the physics isn’t right,’ Prof. Hutchinson said.

    Understanding the locomotion of the very largest dinosaurs is the aim of a project being undertaken by paleobiology researcher Alexandra Houssaye and her colleagues from France’s National Centre for Scientific Research and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Through their Gravibone project, which began last year, they want to pin down the limb bone adaptations that allow large animals to carry a heavy skeleton.

    ‘We really want to understand what (bone features) are linked to being massive,’ Dr Houssaye said.

    Massive

    So far, research has shown that the long bones in the limbs of bigger animals are more robust than those of smaller animals. But this general trend has only been superficially observed. The outer and inner bone structures have adapted over time to help support animals’ weight. For example, whereas smaller terrestrial animals have hollow limb bones, massive ones like elephants, rhinos and hippos have connective tissue in the middle.

    Among the largest animals and their ancestors there are also other differences. The limb bones of modern rhinos, for example, are short and heavy. But their prehistoric relatives called Indricotherium, the largest land mammal that ever lived, had a less stocky skeleton. ‘It’s interesting to see that the biggest didn’t have the most massive (frame),’ Dr Houssaye said.

    The team is studying both living and extinct animals, focussing on elephants, rhinos, hippos, prehistoric mammals and dinosaurs such as sauropods – a group that includes the biggest terrestrial animals of all time.

    So far, they have compared the ankle bones of horses, tapirs, rhinos and fossils of rhinos’ ancestors. They found that for animals of the same mass there were differences depending on if they were short and stout or had longer limbs. In less stocky animals, the two ankle bones tended to be more distinct whereas they were more strongly connected in those that were massively built, probably to reinforce the articulation.

    ‘It’s not only the mass (of the animal) but how the mass is distributed on the body,’ said Dr Houssaye. ‘For us that was interesting.’

    3D modelling

    Their next step will be to scan different limb bones and analyse their inner structure. They will also use 3D modelling to figure out how much weight different parts of the bones can handle in different spots, for example.

    The results from the project could help make more efficient prosthetics for people and animals, Dr Houssaye said. Designers will be able to better understand how different features of limb bones, such as thickness and orientation, relate to their strength, enabling them to create materials that are lighter but more resistant. 

    Similarly, Dr Houssaye has also had interest from the construction industry which is looking for new types of materials and more effective building techniques. Pillars supporting heavy buildings, for example, could be made using less material by improving their inner structure instead.

    ‘How a skeleton adapts (to heavy weight) has implications for construction,’ Dr Houssaye said. ‘(Architects) are trying to create structures that are able to support heavy weight.’

    The research in this article was funded by the European Research Council. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.



    Source: robohub.org

    Robotics

    Related Post

    • Video Friday: Final Goodbye to Opportunity Rover, and More

      By robonews | 0 comment

      Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We’ll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for theRead more

    • For Micro Robot Insects, Four Wings May Be Better Than Two

      By robonews | 0 comment

      An extra pair of wings makes robot insects much easier to control In 2013, some folks from Rob Wood’s lab at Harvard, including then-postdoc Sawyer Buckminster Fuller, published a paper in Science introducing a (mostly)Read more

    • Robot Attempts to Navigate As Well As a Tiny Desert Ant

      By robonews | 0 comment

      Desert ants can navigate remarkably well with the aid of the sun, a skill that robots are trying to duplicate Insects in general are unfailingly impressive with how intelligent and capable they are, with anRead more

    • Learning preferences by looking at the world

      By robonews | 0 comment

      By Rohin Shah and Dmitrii Krasheninnikov It would be great if we could all have household robots do our chores for us. Chores are tasks that we want done to make our houses cater moreRead more

    • Is the green new deal sustainable?

      By robonews | 0 comment

      This week Washington DC was abuzz with news that had nothing to do with the occupant of The While House. A group of progressive legislators, led by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, in the House of Representatives, introducedRead more

    NextPrevious

    Recent Posts

    • Video Friday: Final Goodbye to Opportunity Rover, and More
    • For Micro Robot Insects, Four Wings May Be Better Than Two
    • Robot Attempts to Navigate As Well As a Tiny Desert Ant
    • Learning preferences by looking at the world
    • Is the green new deal sustainable?
    • 4 Experts Respond to Trump's Executive Order on AI
    • From the Segregated South to Bell Labs to the AI Frontier
    • Robot Melts Its Bones to Change How It Walks
    • James E. West backstory
    • Video Friday: Robotic Gecko Gripper, and More

    Recent Posts

    • Video Friday: Final Goodbye to Opportunity Rover, and More February 15, 2019
    • For Micro Robot Insects, Four Wings May Be Better Than Two February 14, 2019
    • Robot Attempts to Navigate As Well As a Tiny Desert Ant February 13, 2019
    • Learning preferences by looking at the world February 12, 2019
    • Is the green new deal sustainable? February 12, 2019
    • 4 Experts Respond to Trump's Executive Order on AI February 12, 2019

    Featured Products

    • bioloid_b_web BIOLOID STEM Standard Kit $200.50 $240.60
    • stem_expansion_web BIOLOID STEM Expansion Kit $181.02
    • Skeleton-bot 4WD Hercules Mobile Robotic Platform $147.48 $122.90
    • ev3_box_web_3 LEGO® Mindstorms EV3 $239.99 $199.99

    Top Rated Products

    • Surveyor-Rover-MK1 Surveyor Rover MK1 $360.00 $300.00
    • MechaTE_Limited MechaTE Robot Hand Limited Edition $900.00
    • mecha_TE_gen2_shop Mecha TE GEN2 $1,200.00 $960.00
    • potentiometer Potentiometer (2-pack) $14.28 $11.90

    Follow us

    Quick Links

    • About us
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Returns Policy
    • Shop
    • Blog
    • Contact Us

    Disclaimer

    robohive.net is a Web Development Showcase and content on all pages is just a placeholder and it is not real. If you have any questions or you are interested in this site in any way, advertising opportunities or even our web development services feel free to Contact Us via this form.
    Copyright 2018 Robo Hive | This is a demo store for showcase purposes — no orders shall be fulfilled.
    • Home
    • Robots
    • Robot Parts
      • Batteries
      • Motors & Wheels
      • Sensors
      • Controllers
      • Radio
    • Robot Apps
    • Education
    • Blog
    Robo Hive