The Real Effing Deal

Once again, vigilant (vigilante?) Agent Elemento P comes through with a very cool link to this article about new technology in robot joints which makes them more compact and useful than ever.

As Farhad Aghili of the Canadian Space Agency explains in the article, “In a nutshell…the control system autonomously realizes the configuration change while demanding minimum actuation effort.”  WHAA?  What kind of an “explanation” is that?  Even a tech-head like me is losing the thread here.  But earlier in the article, we are told the robots have “passive joints that allow the arms to twist and change their length, depending on the task at hand.”  The article continues, pointing out that “This kind of reconfigurable robot could have many uses in space, including performing inspections, assembling devices, and carrying objects. Aghili added that a reconfigurable robot like this one could also have applications in mining, nuclear power plants and the military.”

So it occurs to me that maybe THIS is how some of these mysterious folding robots we’ve been spotting are changing their shapes.  Maybe this is a revolutionary concept to us, but it’s just elementary to them!  But then that leads me to say HOLY TINKERTOYS, does that mean these moveable metallic “visitors” will soon be getting involved in our “mining, nuclear power plants and the military”???  Does that mean these chunks of steel and their little “passive joints” will soon be TAKING OVER our nuclear power plants?

Stay alert, TRED-heads!