Posted 04.01.2011 at 4:23 pm
10 Comments
Da Vinci Robot's Plane
Swedish Seattle via YouTube
The da Vinci robot, renowned for its prostate surgery skill, can also fly planes. Well, paper ones anyway. With Dr. James Porter of Seattle's Swedish Medical Center guiding its tiny robotic arms through the process, da Vinci successfully folds and flies a miniature paper airplane in this video.
This isn't the first time we've been amazed at the dexterity of the four-armed da Vinci robot, which participated in the world's first fully robotic surgery last fall and has even spawned a Kinect-powered prototype. But it's good to see the machine having fun for a change. And it doesn’t surprise us that the namesake of the great Renaissance personality gravitated towards flying machines and art.
10 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson On Being Told To Remove 3-D Printed Gun Plans: "We Win"
- Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology
- A California State Senator Is Trying To Outlaw 3-D Printed Guns
- 2013 Invention Awards: Family Flier
- Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier
- U.S. Navy Spends $37 Billion On A Ship That Barely Works
- Time-Lapse GIFs Show Earth Transforming Over 25 Years
- How To Turn An AK-47 Into A Soup Ladle
- How The World's First 3-D Printed Gun Works
- Iran Unveils Absurd New Stealth Drone
Most Emailed
Technology
- Google Maps Helps People Find Families They Lost Decades Ago
- Norwegian Geologists Begin Drone-Guided Quest For Oil
- Another Big Milestone For The X-47B: Its First Touch And Go Landing
- South Pole Lab Detects Elusive Deep-Space Neutrinos For The First Time
- Yahoo! Officially Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion
- Mars Rover Opportunity Travels Farther Than A NASA Vehicle Has Ever Traveled On Another Planet
- 7 Reasons Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Is A Beginner's Guide To Star Trek [Spoiler Alert]
- America's Road To Energy Independence, Part 1
- Video: MIT's Cheetah Robot Trots, Then Gallops
- Mapping The Simpsons' Slow Descent Into Suckitude
Most Viewed
Technology
- Google Maps Helps People Find Families They Lost Decades Ago
- Norwegian Geologists Begin Drone-Guided Quest For Oil
- Another Big Milestone For The X-47B: Its First Touch And Go Landing
- South Pole Lab Detects Elusive Deep-Space Neutrinos For The First Time
- Yahoo! Officially Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion
- Mars Rover Opportunity Travels Farther Than A NASA Vehicle Has Ever Traveled On Another Planet
- 7 Reasons Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Is A Beginner's Guide To Star Trek [Spoiler Alert]
- America's Road To Energy Independence, Part 1
- Video: MIT's Cheetah Robot Trots, Then Gallops
- Mapping The Simpsons' Slow Descent Into Suckitude
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
This is a wonderful devices, but is it a robot? Wouldn't it be more accurately described as a manipulator? As far as I can tell, all motion is controlled via human hands. And yes, it also provides enhanced viewing capabilities.
To repeat -- it's a great device. I just don't think that it fits the commonly accepted concept of a robot.
you are being a bit narrow minded, this is a robot that operates via a human computer/interface that allows it to operate more precisely than a human alone
It's not a robot, it's a robotic-assist device which translates the surgeons movements down to a much smaller scale and eliminates shakes (as well as other unwanted movements). It's surgery by wire as well, because the surgeon can be hundreds of miles away. It's robotic in that the "robot" part of the system interprets "commands" (e.g., hand movements) and determines what to do in response (just like if you said to a robot "move your hand two mm to the left"). It's more than just a one-for-one translation of the surgeons movements. In addition, the vision is stereoscopic and is also remote, so again, the surgeon only sees what the robot sees.
Not a very good airplane design
Ive made much better
Anyone seen this new blog at www.regiz.blogspot.com
yeeah, not really the best one.. but the point was simply to show that it could be done, not that it could be done "well" ;) They could have at least thrown it off a high ledge...or the table or somethin tho huh?
btw after some quick googling (see: Robot, da Vinvi Surgical System, Robotic Surgery, etc. via wiki)... it appears that da Vinci is semi-robotic, but no.. not a fully functioning robot with an automated AI as we are accustomed to seeing nowadays. It does do much more than simply translate motions from the individual to the motorized instruments though so it's definitely not just a "device" either..
Sorta in-be-tween this one ;) ...in the eye of the beholder
the million cranes at the Hiroshima memorial, some are so small that they had to be folded with tweezers... they were way better than that "robot"
@my name here...say that the next time you need surgery and see what happens
Apparently derchuck has investment ties to the 'robot' manufacturer.
The $59,0000 paper airplane.
00000ooooohhhhh... Does this mean i can get them to fold my tonsils into an airplane when i have them removed? ^_^