Wearables seem to be getting a much of attention in the technology industry, from smart-watches to compact fitness tracker bands, etc. and now some researchers at MIT and Stanford have changed the traditional perception of wearables by developing a petite on-body autonomous robots, tagged “ROVABLES”, which roam around the human body while the wearer goes about their lives.
Unlike the regular wearables that generally stay in a place, like on your wrist or clipped under clothes, this new invention will not always be so stationary. These tiny robots crawl vertically on unmodified clothing, meaning there is no need to wear a special shirt to have them drive on you. The robots are held in place and able to scale garments with the help of magnetic gripping wheels that sit on either side of the fabric. Using sensors and artificial intelligence, the mini-rovers are partially autonomous. The researchers describe a scenario where the on-body robot crawls into your pocket when it’s not needed.
What can these tiny robots do? They can assemble themselves into a wristwatch or nametag or assemble on the wearer’s arm as a display to watch video or tap a person on the shoulder when there’s new email or the wearable robots might roll up your sleeve and turn into a safety light on your back when you’re riding a bicycle, so said the researchers.
The Rovables are packed with a microcontroller, wireless communications and a battery that powers them for 45 minutes of full capacity, but where the robots are not moving all the time, the battery life should extend for hours longer. Also, the Rovables are designed to charge wirelessly.
Currently, Rovables are only available as a lab-based project, but soon will be made for public use.
Source: Engadget.
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