Archive for the ‘Rotator’ Category

Learning from Ants: Principles of Locomotion in Confined Spaces Could Help Future Robot Teams Work Underground

May 20, 2013 — Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are all-too-familiar to people living in the southern United States.

Oxygen-Free: RNA Was Capable of Catalyzing Electron Transfer on Early Earth with Iron’s Help, Study Suggests

May 19, 2013 — A new study shows how complex biochemical transformations may have been possible under conditions that existed when life began on the early Earth. The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of the early Earth.

Biology of the Brain: Georgia Tech Researchers Seek a Better Understanding of the Brain

Spring/Summer 2012 Research Horizons — Researchers at Georgia Tech are applying their expertise, tools and techniques to understand on a fundamental level how the brain works. Because the human brain is immensely complex, the researchers are pursuing many levels of inquiry – from molecules to cells to circuits to the mystery of the mind itself – and also studying brain disorders and development, along with daily feats of brain activity, such as vision, speech, movement and memory.

Brain Development: Study Shows How Pathway Competition Affects Early Differentiation of Higher Brain Structures

April 27, 2013 — A new study shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in a brain region known as the telencephalon — much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

Artificial Transparent Skin: Arrays of Piezoelectric “Taxels” Convert Mechanical Motion to Electronic Controlling Signals for Improved Tactile Imaging

April 26, 2013 — Using bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals. The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices.

FlipperBot: Sea Turtles and Flipper-Driven Robot Reveal Principles of Moving on Sand and Other Granular Media

April 23, 2013 — Based on a study of both hatchling sea turtles and “FlipperBot” — a robot with flippers — Georgia Tech researchers have learned principles for how both robots and turtles move on granular surfaces such as sand.

Anatomy of a Blast: Researchers Develop Sensor System to Assess the Effects of Explosions on Soldiers

April 23, 2013 — To study the effects of improvised explosive devices on soldiers and help provide continuing treatment, researchers have developed a sensor system that measures the physical environment of an explosion and collects data that can correlate what the soldier experienced with long-term outcomes.

Stress Relief: Battery-Free Wireless “Smart Skin” Sensors Could Provide Remote Monitoring of Aging Infrastructure

April 16, 2013 — Researchers are developing a novel technology that would facilitate close monitoring of bridges, parking decks and other structures for early signs of strain, stress and formation of cracks. Their approach uses wireless sensors that are low cost, require no power, and can be implemented on tough yet flexible polymer substrates.

Ultra-Fast Computing: Researchers Evaluate Bose-Einstein Condensates for Communicating Among Quantum Computers

April 12, 2013 — Physicists have examined how Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) might be used to provide communication among the nodes of a distributed quantum computer. The researchers determined the amount of time needed for quantum information to propagate across their BEC.

Sticky Signature: Adhesive Force Differences Enable Separation of Stem Cells to Advance Potential Therapies and Accelerate Research

April 7, 2013 — A new separation process that depends on an easily-distinguished physical difference in adhesive forces among cells could help expand production of stem cells generated through cell reprogramming. By facilitating new research, the separation process could also lead to improvements in the reprogramming technique itself and help scientists model certain disease processes.