Imagination Factory

Dylan Taylor Imagine a Martian rover that can send small robotic minions to crawl into crevices or climb steep slopes -- everywhere a full-sized vehicle can't go to. That's the scenario a team from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory hopes to achieve by  developing  small  origami-inspired  robots called Pop-Up Flat Folding Explorer Robots or PUFFERs. They're made of printed circuit boards and can be flattened and stacked on top of each other on the way to their mission. Once they get to the location, they can pop back up and drive away. PUFFER's project manager Jaakko Karras conjured up its design back when he was experimenting with origami while working on robots at UC Berkeley's Biomimetic Millisystem Lab. The team replaced the paper he used in his design with printed circuit boards and then 3D printed wheels for the machine. PUFFER's latest set of wheels have treads and can inch forward one wheel at a time, so it can climb slopes. They...

For some people,   the RunKeeper coach's   voice is enough to keep them motivated during a jog. Others need something physical to keep pace with. That's where Puma's BeatBot comes in. Developed by a NASA robotics engineer, a trio of MIT students and Puma's ad agency, the robot follows lines around a track at any pace you'd want, according   to  Fast Company . It can even match   Usain Bolt's   2009 foot-speed world record of 44.6 KPH (27.7 MPH) in case you need something a little more aspirational than an eight-minute mile. The robot works by scanning lines on the track with an array of nine IR sensors, while wheel rotations are monitored  via Arduino  to keep track of speed and distance. BeatBot's also outfitted with LED lights on the back and dual  GoPro cameras . If you figured this would be expensive, you're right. Even though there isn't an exact price, for now, BeatBot will only be offered to Puma-sponsored teams and athlete...