Mar 16
According to a Redditor, Scott Jarvie took this cool night photo of Julia Wooten at a rock climbing route in Papago Park, located between the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona. Here’s the entire photo in its original orientation:
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Mar 03
Mount Everest might be the be-all, end-all of mountaineering, but it’s also a dumping ground for the climbers striving upon its face—which is littered, as National Geographic puts it, "with garbage leaking out of the glaciers and pyramids of human excrement befouling the high camps." This week, Nepal announced a new rule aimed at cleaning it up.
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Feb 26
The Swiss Alpine Club built its first shed on this Alpine peak back in 1929 to serve as a refuge for
Posted in: Today's Chili
The Swiss Alpine Club built its first shed on this Alpine peak back in 1929 to serve as a refuge for climbers. But Savioz Fabrizzi Architects recently replaced the aging shack to offer more modern comforts—like solar energy. Since the site is 9,768 feet above the ground, each piece of the building was dropped off by helicopter. [ArchDaily]
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Sep 12
Remember the young Russian photographers who illegally climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza a few months back? They’re back, fresh off a month-long Eurotrip which took them to the Cologne Cathedral, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, and at least one police station. And the photos they brought back will make your palms sweat.
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May 11
RHex Robot Can Jump, Swim, Climb Stairs: Nowhere to Run to, Nowhere to Hide
Posted in: Today's ChiliJumping robots must really be in demand I guess. RHex uses six curved leg-scoops to propel the robot into some incredible jumps. This 15-pound machine can even hoist itself up a vertical wall that’s taller than itself.
The RHex robot has a simple yet rugged design too. It can be completely submerged in water. And those legs are perfect for swimming too. The video here also shows it hop precisely to the end of a platform so that its front legs can catch the edge and launch off for a long horizontal jump over a gap.
It’s also creepy as hell too, thanks to those legs. It’s like you are watching some oversize insect that you just want to take down before it evolves to kill you. Maybe that’s just me. I’m always thinking ahead to our eventual robopocalyptic downfall. I mean, this thing can jump, swim and climb. Where the hell can you hide from it?
[via Geek]
May 08
A team of researchers in Switzerland have been working on a new robot that’s able to climb vertical surfaces of all sorts using unique sticky feet. The robot can climb all sorts of surfaces including walls, rock, aluminum, and others. The developers behind the robot believe it could be used to help with mountain rescues, construction crews, or painting walls and ceilings.
The wall climbing ‘bot was developed by Liyu Wang, Lina Graber and Fumiya Iida at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich.
The robot is able to cling to vertical surfaces using special plastic footpads that heat rapidly causing them to melt. When the plastic melts, the compound slimes into the nooks and crannies on the surface it’s climbing allowing it to stick. The robot then uses thermoelectric effect to cool the plastic allowing the foot to release so a step can be taken. The adhesives in the plastic feet melt at about 70°C.
While sticky feet made of melting plastic may not sound particularly strong, the researchers claim that the robot can carry five times its own mass up a vertical wall.
[via New Scientist]
May 08
We’ve seen plenty of robots scale walls over the years, from models that emit supersonic streams of air to gecko-inspired creations, but few can carry more than their own weight, much less handle rough terrain. Enter this unique Swiss-made machine, which handles both tasks with aplomb thanks to the rapid melting and cooling of its thermoplastic adhesive feet. Created by the whiz kids over at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the plastic compounds in the contraption’s tootsies melt at around 70 degrees Celsius (158 Fahrenheit), where they’re tacky enough to stick and fill surface gaps. If the bot needs to take a step forward, a thermoelectric effect kicks in to cool the plastics down, detaching the foot in the process. Repeat the motion several times and you get a tiny climbing critter that’s able to carry about six to seven times its own weight over complex surfaces, a feat that’s sure to be of actual use someday. It’s certainly more practical, though a lot less fun, than one that mixes cocktails. Go on after the break to see the little climber in action.
Source: IEEE Explore, New Scientist
Apr 21
Photographer Ray Demski recently decided to take climbers and a photography crew to a bridge in Avers, Switzerland, light an ice wall and then shoot the climbers once it got dark. The results are pretty awesome, which is not surprising, because this whole plan was…pretty awesome. More »
Mar 12
I’m sure that this is just a small taste of what we can expect from future robot competitions, just with less killing of humans. This competition is designed to attract more young students to the field of robotics and for today at least, it looks pretty fun. Let’s all enjoy it while we’re still alive.
The annual First Robotics Competition is being held at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center aka Sports Arena. The seventh annual competition will have 60 teams. They will compete using 100+ pound robots in a game where they score points by throwing frisbees into a slot in the wall and then climb metal pyramids.
The match starts with a 15-second period where robots operate independently. Each frisbee scored is worth additional points. For the remainder of the two-minute match, drivers control the robots remotely and try to score as many points as possible. Then they try to climb a pyramid. The higher up they get, the more points they get.
The championship will be held in St. Louis on April 24 to 27 and there are $16 million(USD) in scholarships for competitors to win.
[via kpbs]
Mar 08
It’s March, which mean it’s still a little colder than you want it to be. Which means eventually you’ll ask yourself why in the hell is it still cold. Which will lead to yourself questioning why does it have to be cold at all? And then you’ll see this converted silo in Cedar Falls, Iowa and the cold, winter, slushy snow, all of it will make complete sense. The world gets cold so that people can create an epic ice climbing wall. More »
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