Posted by timothy on Monday August
25, @10:15PM from the
just-not-evenly-distributed dept. An anonymous reader
writes "Researchers at MIT have solved the mystery of how water
striders propel themselves across water surfaces and in the process
have created a robot called Robostrider
that mimics the behavior. With cool stuff like this, it's no wonder
MIT is number
one in engineering."
The question is about propulsion, not
weight-to-surface tension ratios sufficient for
flotation. This research gives a better explanation of
the mechanism by which the water skimmers move with
such great efficiency (namely by created subsurface
vortices with their middle pair of legs) and puts to
rest the notion that it is attributable to the waves
themselves created by a rowing action.
It's much to early to tell how this will help us
build better boats or water based technologies. If
we already knew how to apply the technology, we
wouldn't be researching to understand the science of
what makes it work.
It doesn't matter, I'd hire this person to the
exclusion of his peers at MIT. Why? It's creative,
I didn't think about it, and I can use someone
whose brain works like that.
I can hire
coders & designers easily. They're a dime a
dozen. I can hire GOOD -> excellent coders or
designers more difficultly by talking to friends
of friends etc, but they exist and are plentiful
enough. To hire someone that will build a
rediculous thing that no one has really seen
before, carry that design through to completion,
and make headlines...that person I'd pay a lot of
money to. He'll make me filthy rich if I'm nice to
him.
Actually there are several people who thing that MIT's
direction in AI has gone seriously awry. Marvin Minsky (though
somewhat stodgy), has pointed out that MIT's focus in robotics
is no longer on figuring out how to make things that do stuff
for people, but on subhuman gadgets.
So, yeah they may
be number one, but in a way, they've let down the old guard of
AI researchers.
problem is, minsky spends too much time debunking
good theory than creating new ones. let's take an
example. minsky proved that 2-layer neural networks
were not capable of generalizing to many tasks. the
proof is indeed notable, but then came *gasp* three
layer neural networks, and minsky's point was
irrelevant. i think he is just pissed that his ideas
were mostly abandoned by AI researchers.
several people who thing that MIT's direction
in AI has gone seriously awry
What does
this have to do with AI?
The research reported
on is primarily about fluid dynamics. Robostrider is a
catchy thing they've created to bring attention to the
important findings. In fact, seeing as the strider
[mit.edu] is powered by a rubber band, not only does
it not have anything to do with AI, it has nothing to
do with robotics either.
This doesn't mean it's
not wicked cool.
For more cool (without
downloading a video), check out david hu's beautiful
strider
pics [mit.edu].
How the fuck is splitting an atom going to help
anyone?
You see, science is not about only making big
breakthoughs on things in you direct field of
interest. A lot of it is small discoveries, that are
used down the road in ways that people didn't think of
when they made the discovery.
I'm sure no one could possibly know yet.
How is grinding little pieces of glass to play with
light and images going to help anyone? (He writes
while wearing corrective lenses.)
Yes, this particular research project is very
cool.
However, since it was mentioned in the original
post, I will say that USN&WR's rankings are flawed, and do
not necessarily reflect the quality of research taking place
at a particular institution. In fact, a significant portion of
their rankings are based on name recognition alone, which has
nothing to do with quality of research.
This water
strider story [slashdot.org] was posted two weeks ago, but
because the way it was worded this time, the focus of the
posts will probably be on robots (and dupe flaming) rather
than the Christian Science Monitor being remarkably
unbiased.:)
Robostrider is
made out of a 7-Up can, stainless steel wire legs and an
elastic band coupled to a pulley to power its middle legs.
Too much 7-Up and not enough beer being consumed for
it to be a fair contest. They should increase their beer
consumption to that of other colleges and level the playing
field.
Charles river (the river that MIT stands on) is always
covered by a film of oil which is approximately one inch
thick. You don't have to be a freaking rocket scientist to
build a robot which walks on *that*.
On the linked page
http://www-math.mit.edu/%7Edhu/Striderweb/striderw
eb.html Someone has blotted out the intimate details of the
waterstriders mating ritual. Is he seriously worried about
offending someone, or is he worried about hosting a porn site?
Who says political correctness has gone wrong... This is just
pathetic.
Chan designed and built a mechanical water
strider. Robostrider is made out of a 7-Up can, stainless
steel wire legs and an elastic band coupled to a pulley to
power its middle legs. Light enough not to break through the
water surface, it travels half a body length per stroke.
Like its natural counterpart, Robostrider's principal means
of transferring momentum is in the form of vortices shed by
the rowing action.
All you would need to do is teach it to hop from tire to
rat corpse.
Is there any reason for a NYC Triathlon
when the swim is cancelled
EVERY BLOODY YEAR [insidetri.com]? They haven't been able
to swim in the Hudson for three years, just MOVE THE BLOODY
RACE YOU WANKERS!
Researchers at MIT have solved the mystery of how teenage
boys satisfy themselves several times daily and in the process
have created a robot called Robostroker
[robostroker.com] that mimics the behavior.
I can count more unemployed MIT grads in today's economy
than hair on my head. No, I am not bald.
It's articles
like this pointing MIT #1 that forces so many employers to
fear hiring these engineers nowadays. They are so smart that
if they innovate something... they are considered a
waste.
"Researchers at MIT have solved the mystery of how water
striders propel themselves across water
surfaces..."
Umm, I learned this in 6th grade. It's a
simple matter of surface tension and surface area. This was
the same day I learned about the meniscus formed when you fill
a glass to the brim with water.
I was going to post an entry about "Jesus feet," big
blocks of Styrofoam you can use to walk on water, but I can't
find them on the Web. All the references to "Jesus feet" on
Google seem to have some sort of religious slant to them.
MIT still Rules. I'd like to have an SUV sized one please
to replace the aging swamp buggy here in the Everglades. Make
the walking pads gator proof and the cabin skeeter proof. I'd
like one in Rustoleum Primer and with a gun rack in the back
of the cabin,
"Chan designed and built a mechanical water strider.
Robostrider is made out of a 7-Up can, stainless steel wire
legs and an elastic band coupled to a pulley to power its
middle legs."
It's amazing the parts they get to work
with at these prestigous, expensive, high-tech
universities!;)
This automaton goes out to the clubs
and picks up women and brings them back to your place. The
Playah Robot never complains about getting stuck with the fat
chick.
* Voicemail Robot
This robot will save
you from wasting time in voicemail hell with your local
utility company, diligently pressing 1 for English, 7 for
other, 3 for other, and 0 to speak to a human, and after an
hour and a half will notify you that a human has answered the
phone and is ready to speak to you.
* Alibi
Robot
This robot corroborates your story to your
girlfriend that you were busy studying last Saturday
night.
believe it or not, but robostrider was brian chan's
undergrad thesis. he is now working on robosnail, and was
recently featured on cnn. it now looks like they took the
article down, but his personal website with all that stuff is
here [mit.edu].his
personal research info, not linked off his main page, is here
[mit.edu].
oh yeah, he was my roommate when he was
working on the robostrider. brian is fascinated by insects and
such. we had a foot long 3/4" diameter millipede as a pet. one
day it got loose.
he also forges traditional
japanese swords [mit.edu]. one day he came back from doing
poorly on a test, and embedded it it 2 feet in the wall.
luckily, no one was on the other side at the time.
Researchers at MIT have solved the mystery of how water
striders propel themselves across water surfaces I have an
old Biology book (1994) that explains why water striders are
able to stay afloat on top of the water (due to the
interaction amoungst water molecules - van der Walls forces)
as well as how they can move along the surface. I think the
author should have been a little more careful in his wording
of this article.
According to Webster's: "minority:...the smaller in number of two groups
constituting a whole."
Yet, the US News & World Report ranking
of colleges [usnews.com] shows statistics in which
"minorities" comprise more than 50% of the student
population.
It seems to me, a group is not a "minority" if it
constitutes 98-99% of the population at an institution
(especially in the case of the historically black
colleges).
I also enjoyed the page listing the schools with 100%
acceptance rates [usnews.com]. Woohoo! Just sign and
enter!
Actually, if you RTFA, while the bot has been seen walking
on water, it has not yet been conclusively demonstrated to be
a religious figure among other robots. Therefore a crucifixion
would at this point be premature, as it would not make the
water-walking bot a martyr to solidify and justify the faith
of millions of robot minions for millennia to come.
The scale of water bugs goes from.5" to
10", its more of a function of keeping the surface area of the
'legs' in proportion with the weight and balance of the rest
of the body.
Yup, those smart guys at MIT! Just discovered SURFACE
TENSION! Amazing, simply amazing! Why, the boneheads at all
the other schools must be beating their heads on the wall in
envy!
HALtheComputer's 5 step alchemy course for the
twenty-first century
Step 1. Take a beaker full of
wine. Step 2. When no one is looking dump the beaker out
and refill it with wine. (to obtain this "no one looking"
state I suggest an elaborate ruse: something along the lines
of, "Look, whats that over there?") Step 3.
Incorporate Step 4. Go Public Step 5. PROFIT
!!!
P.S. If you plan on submitting this plan to a
venture capitalist you could at least spell check it first.
I'm far too busy to concern myself with mundane things like
spelling.
Now that you mention it, Professor Bush actually has
looked into the fluid dynamics
of wine [mit.edu], as well.
He's a cool guy- I took a fluids class he taught a few
years back. He's one of those people who can use mathematical
intuition to understand physical phenomena.
In a stunning display of their prowess MIT student
researchers crafted a robot that walks on water much like
the water striders of the insect world.
(http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/robostrider
.html) Immediately there after Christians from Kansas,
Arkansas, Oklahoma and other southern states raised protest
over the new "iconic robo-Christ". One outspoken preacher
exclaimed "They know nothing... Jesus' legs weren't that
skinny! NO! not that skinny at all!" whilst wiping his
brow feverishly; "How could Jesus have walked with legs
that skinny. It is truly absurd!". In response an MIT
spokesman said "The experiments are part of research
supported by the NSF (Nation Science Foundation)
for investigation into what is called Denny's Paradox. It
is a complex fluid dynamics problem and has nothing to do
with religion." The newly formed "No Robotic Christ"
Organization (NRC) released a statement shortly after the
MIT announcement. It read "The NRC finds it appalling
and abhorrent that government moneys are being spent to
develop a robotic replacement for Christ. This will not
stand. This aggression toward our Lord Jesus. This will not
stand. We demand that this research be stopped and that
government funding of this project be canceled immediately.
We further demand that funds equivalent to the moneys
already spent be ear-marked for education of the MIT
student body to the fact that Jesus Christ is the only
entity that can walk upon water." In further debate an MIT
professor retorted "There is a whole variety of insects that
walk on water the water strider is but one of these." The
NRC responded quickly with "Faith is not based on
reproducible evidence but on faith alone." The NRC then
announced the opening of phone lines to take collections
for a "Save the Children from the Robotic Christ
Fund".
[2 days pass]
The NRC held a sit-in
protest today at the Stratton Student Center on MIT campus.
One NRC protester exclaimed "They're a trying to poison
the minds of youth in this here school and we's aiming to
stop it." Grasps erupted from the crowd of protesters
earlier today as an MIT student passing the protest
suddenly fell down and doubled over after an argument with
one protester. Calls of "See the wrath of God!" and
"Have mercy oh Lord!" were heard from the protesters. As
other students and authorities rushed to the red-faced,
teary-eyed, convulsing student he was found only to be
laughing hysterically and unable to draw breath....
Actually, it did. The 2nd link talked about
the MIT strider bots.
OK, my bad... although
Slashdot didn't explicitly mention the robots last time, which
is why it looked like new info to me. Are you seriously
suggesting that you actually expect us to read the articles!?
I followed your sig (I'm always up
for a game)... and the amount of cookies required is enough to
allow me to host my own Church of the God-like Spider-Thingies
Bake Sale
It's a necessary evil. It was a slow news day and SCO was
DDOS'd. With no new entertainment from the Information
Minister an attempt has been made to satisfy geeks with a
discussion of intentionaly implemented bugs.
SCO was not DDOS'ed, not by any stretch of the
imagination. The pages are serving up just fine, as quick as
can be. Served by a server running Unix code written by
red-blooded god-fearing proud American programmers. The same
code that was stolen from us and being illegally run on
millions of lesser Linux boxes worldwide. You can thank SCO
for your silly toy's uptime, little boy.
You were obviously not logged in this weekend or earlier
today. Most likely the attack stopped as per ESR's request so
that SCO would have a communications channel through which
they could further incriminate themselves.
Instead of just bitching about it in typical slashdot
trendiness, why not HELP OUT by subscribing
[slashdot.org] & submitting these things to the online
editor/dupe checker? I know that after the April Fool's day
bit with the dupes they have cracked down HARD on fixing the
duplicates in addition to cross-referencing these to older
"similar to" stories.
The question is about propulsion, not weight-to-surface
tension ratios sufficient for flotation. This research gives a
better explanation of the mechanism by which the water
skimmers move with such great efficiency (namely by created
subsurface vortices with their middle pair of legs) and puts
to rest the notion that it is attributable to the waves
themselves created by a rowing action.
> The question is about propulsion, not
weight-to-surface tension ratios sufficient for
flotation
Unfortunately the article doesn't make that
very clear. They could spell out that the issue is locomotion,
not flotation. At first I thought, what the h3ll, it's obvious
that they're floating because they're not breaking the surface
tension. But then they kept talking about moving and skimming
and swimming, so it dawned on me that they're talking about
how the walker generates forward motion on a near
friction-less medium. That's where the vortices come in, quasi
as a surface to push against.
It's much to early to tell how this will help us build
better boats or water based technologies. If we already knew
how to apply the technology, we wouldn't be researching to
understand the science of what makes it work.
So you agree with me? They're just figuring out how it
works and how to reproduce it. Now that it's something we are
beginning to understand, it is a tool that can be used when
solving other problems, both theoretical and practical.
It doesn't matter, I'd hire this person to the exclusion
of his peers at MIT. Why? It's creative, I didn't think about
it, and I can use someone whose brain works like
that.
I can hire coders & designers easily. They're
a dime a dozen. I can hire GOOD -> excellent coders or
designers more difficultly by talking to friends of friends
etc, but they exist and are plentiful enough. To hire someone
that will build a rediculous thing that no one has really seen
before, carry that design through to completion, and make
headlines...that person I'd pay a lot of money to. He'll make
me filthy rich if I'm nice to him.
We've already applied this technology - they're called
oars. The key differnce is that the water strider has almost
zero displacement, hence is able generate a large velocity
compared to a displacement hull.
MIT Robot Walks
On Water
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copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments
are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2003 
