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Groundbreaking ‘spider’ will change robotics

Groundbreaking ‘spider’ will change robotics

Plus: Saudia Arabia's new cubed skyscraper can fit 20 Empire State buildings.

Feb 24, 2023

Straight outta Tokyo… meet SPIDAR (not a typo.)

SPIDAR is a multimodal locomotion-capable robot that uses servos on movable limbs. It’s extremely light, which means it can fly without a jet engine. But it’s actually so light that it has to bounce continually to stay upright. Exhausting.

Oh, and SPIDAR stands for “SPherIcally vectorable and Dstributed rotors assisted Air-ground amphibious quadruped Robot.” Which is considerably less catchy, I think you’ll agree.

But before you watch that robotic arachnid in action, watch something altogether more sticky in this video. It shows a mussel-inspired glue, which might just be the best underwater adhesive out there.

Good morning. I’m Alice, an Editor at IE.

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MUST READ

SPIDAR: A groundbreaking spider-like robot is ready to change robotics.

Meet the University of Tokyo's multimodal locomotion-capable robot, SPIDAR (which is the backronym of “SPherIcally vectorable and Distributed rotors assisted Air-ground amphibious quadruped Robot.”)

33-pound robot SPIDAR uses servos on movable limbs, which are lightweight but not powerful enough for it to stand by itself. This means it’s light enough to fly without a jet engine, but it also means that it has to maintain a continual bounce to stay in an upright position.

It works through spherically vectorable dual thrusters, which are attached to each limb. These can provide thrust in any direction, as well as “roll” around the limb and rotate orthogonally to it.

Eight links and 16 joints make up the 33-pound SPIDAR, which has eight batteries scattered across the links. The robot can walk for more than twice as long as it can fly, for a total flight time of nine minutes.

→ In response to a “labor crisis” in Japan, a Japanese robotics company developed spider-like robots to sterilize the drainage system of the nation. Robotic solutions provider Tmusk claims that SPD1, its spider-like robot that collaborates with other robots, is an effective solution to chronic labor scarcity and sewage inspection tasks.

INNOVATION

Saudia Arabia's new cubed skyscraper can fit 20 Empire State buildings.

If you thought NEOM was the most precious brainchild of Saudi Arabia, then you'd be wrong.

This week, Saudi's Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz unveiled plans to build the world's largest downtown development in Riyadh called New Murabba, covering over seven square miles.

And that's not even close. Murabba's main character will be a ginormous, 400-meter-high, cubed skyscraper called the Mukaab. The Mukaab will be one of the largest structures in existence – big enough to house 20 Empire State buildings.

SCIENCE

A new black hole merger model could help verify an Einstein theory.

A team of researchers from the U.S. has developed an improved method for modeling the mergers of colossal black holes.

Their improved method could help shed new light on the structure of merging black holes and their role in the universe.

It could also help to test Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, which describes the violent cosmic mergers of black holes.

CULTURE

2,000-year-old instrument found in Vietnam is first of its kind.

In Southern Vietnam, archeologists found an ancient stringed instrument from deer antlers. They said the ancient instrument could be the oldest ever discovered in Southeast Asia.

The 2,000-year-old instrument, which resembles a single-stringed harp and was found at a site along the Mekong River, may have been a great-grandparent to the intricate musical instruments that people in Vietnam still play today.