Robotics + Car = Hallucigenia 165
News for nerds writes "I4U has news about a new transportation concept, called The Hallucigenia 01, which is a working 1/5 scale vehicle prototype, designed by Japanese design firm Leading Edge Design. PC Watch (Japanese) has photos and movies. Its 8 wheels are independent robotic arms controlled by their own satellite CPUs, interconnected to the main CPU by an internal LAN."
What ever happened to style? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:1)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:1)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:1)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:2)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What ever happened to style? (Score:2)
Forget Style. What ever happened to safety? (Score:2)
What a name (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What a name (Score:2, Interesting)
Hallucigenia [wikipedia.org] is a fossil. Very old, early Cambrian, I believe. And very weird, hence the name. Check the logo.
Re:What a name (Score:5, Informative)
Judging from the shape of the logo, I suspect this is a reference to Hallucigenia sparsa, a reasonably famous critter they dug out of the Burgess Shale, missassigned as part of genus Canadia and was later renamed and reassigned by Simon Conway Morris. More here. [wikipedia.org] Article links to a possible reconstruction which seems to be down for me.
Paleobiology. This is a nerdy conveyance if I ever saw one.
YLFIMake it out of something more durable (Score:1)
Re:Make it out of something more durable (Score:2)
Since you are so fluent in Japanese, please tell the rest of us precisely what it is constructed of and why you think it is not a sufficient material. I assume you are also a structural and/or materials engineer and therefore have significant subject knowledge.
Re:Make it out of something more durable (Score:1)
The Hallucigenia 01 shown on the pcwatch page is a 1/5 model and is not necessarily made of the same material a full-size version would be.
The Toyota PM which I have seen first hand seems to be made a fiberglass polymer around an aluminum frame. The canopy is made of hard plastic.
None of that information is on the site linked to in the story, though.
Re:Make it out of something more durable (Score:2)
Interesting. FYI Audi has been selling passenger cars (currently the Audi A8, S8 and the A2) for over 10 years now which are entirely constructed of aluminum. No steel anywhere in the frame - 100% aluminum construction, and they are some of the safest cars in the world. The marketing name for it is the "Audi Space Frame" (ASF).
Obviously the design plays a hu
I don't get it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I don't get it (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I don't get it (Score:1)
> Redundancy in case of failure. You see, they'll be running Windows.
Ah.
Wait, but if all of the computers are running at the same time, wouldn't you multiply the odds that at least one of the computers would fail? If there's a 5% chance that one computer will fail, would that make there a 30% chance that one of six would fail?
I hope it's not an n + 1 type of redundancy, else the driver is just screwed...
Re:I don't get it (Score:2)
Re:I don't get it (Score:2)
With one computer, you have a 95% chance of having a functional computer. With six computers, you have a 1-0.05^6 = 99.999998% chance of having a functional computer.
Re:I don't get it (Score:2)
If you read what I said, I was talking about the chance of having at least one functioning computer. By adding computers, you do make it less likely that all of them will fail, and therefore you make it more likely that at least one will work.
Re:I don't get it (Score:5, Funny)
It also has a really cool glowing sword and can shoot plastic missiles.
Re:I don't get it (Score:1)
Yes, there would be latency. However, it would be miniscule, especially in this scenario, well, assuming, as I do, that the CPUs would each only be dealing with the affairs of their one robotic wheel and axle assembly and recieving orders from the UberCPU. Think about it this way: when you play CS over the net, there is some latency, correct? Depending on connect
Re:I don't get it (Score:2)
At least you see something in my future that could be called a career...
Re:I don't get it (Score:1)
"latency" is a vauge term. There's "latency" in that information can only travel at c between two points; there's "latency" in that the car's controls aren't responsive. And, there's "latency" in that a human needs to see and react to what's around them.
Even a modest-speed LAN can have plenty of bandwidth to keep up with a car's latency issues--assuming, of course, that the darn thing is wired correctly.
An F-22, for example, is all fl
Movies? On slashdot? (Score:5, Funny)
Why did I think of that? I dunno, maybe it's because the car looks kinda like Darth's friggen head..
Re:Movies? On slashdot? (Score:1)
"I find your lack of bandwidth disturbing..."
And the poor server gets on its knees, gasping.
I already got a "OPEN Hallucigenia Web Site
Leading Edge Design" on the site, and nothing else.... oh, the
Wow! (Score:2, Funny)
Star Wars (Score:1)
Re:Star Wars (Score:1)
Hallucigenia! (Score:1)
Bet your puny Explorer can't do that!
Hallucigenia! Yeah, now that's the nice schnizzit!
Wow (Score:2, Funny)
Do the wheels play multiplayer Quake with each other in their spare time?
Is the communication between the wheel and the brake done using XML protocols?
Do the wheels send an email to your mobile phone when your refrigerator has run out of milk?
Critical Joke Possiblities OVERLOAD
Brain Terminated.
Re:Wow (Score:2)
This also means we can slashdot the thing. :)
Re:Wow (Score:1)
Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
Eight wheels, eight suspension systems, eight control systems. True, perhaps the system is designed with failure in mind, but think about owning this as a vehicle for normal use - how often will you be taking in to be fixed, because one or more wheels have broken?
It's just like the fools who buy 4 wheel drive SUVs when what they need is a minivan - now they have what amounts to a whole extra powertrain to go wrong.
Now, if the intent was for this to be used in unusual circumstances (forestry work, extreme rough road work [nps.gov] or the like) I could believe this was "as complex as needed but no more".
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:1)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:3, Insightful)
BTW, they make AWD minivans, too. And everyone needs AWD because it's more stable all the time, at least if you have limited slip diffs. (And viscous limited slips just about never wear out, before you object to THAT.)
Oh sure, people can live without AWD... but plenty of people dead today would be alive if they had it. Thos
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
I wish I had one of those.
So unless that eight wheel vehicle has a purpose besides a transportation vehicle for their average customer, then it is a waste of time.
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:1)
As simple as it needs to be, but no simpler.
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
As complex as necessary, but simple as possible?
KISS (Score:1)
Re:Yes. Great. More to go wrong. (Score:2)
As an example, I saw a story on a full size concept car; if I remember rightly it was by Volkswagen. Anyway, it was fly by wire. As a proof of concept thing, they put in a joystick instead of a steering wheel. But they came right out and said that they didn't intend to make production cars with joysticks, it was just to show what you could do with the technology.
Nothing New (Score:3, Interesting)
GM built the Autonomy (skateboard) for one reason (Score:1, Insightful)
And then the Japanese will do it and once again steal the American auto industry's lunch just like the 80's with the quality gap (which st
Re:Nothing New (Score:3, Informative)
I bet it's not as cool as the BMW Streetcarver [howstuffworks.com]. I want one, but no doubt I'd just write it off with my dismal 'skillz'.
Seriously, I would love some kind of powered skateboard, as they're very good for getting around tight parts of town ( and being able to pick them up is very convenient... ), but they're going to have to make them very easy riding ( perhaps with that suspension system from Snow Crash ) before it will ever take off with the masses.
YLFI
What is hallucigenia ? (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.karencarr.com/gallery_hallucigenia.htm
Re:What is hallucigenia ? (Score:2)
Re:What is hallucigenia ? (Score:1)
Re:What is hallucigenia ? (Score:2)
Maybe they just like the fossil (or the name).
parallel parking (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:parallel parking (Score:5, Informative)
From looking at the videos, it does.
It also goes sideways, up and down a bit, and can walk (akwardly) on them 4 at a time.
Does all sort of crazy cool stuff.
Re:parallel parking (Score:1)
Parellel parking is already a breeze, assuming you:
I've never had a problem parallel parking any car I've ever driven (well, with the exception of large trucks, but I don't take those where I would be parallel parking them).
8 wheels (Score:2)
It would stop on dime tho...
Spider (Score:1)
This think should be able to WALK! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This think should be able to WALK! (Score:3, Informative)
you simply need to WTFV (watch the f'ing videos)
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/yajiuma
Re:This think should be able to WALK! (Score:1)
Re:This think should be able to WALK! (Score:2)
Re:This think should be able to WALK! (Score:2)
It does walk, akwardly, but they don't need to turn the wheels over, they just lock 'em and use the regular surface. One less thing to break.
Hey, maybe they'll put these things in matches of robot soccer! They can walk, so they might also be able to kick a ball!
P.S. Your sig (``L'imagination au povoir.'') is missing a "u". Its "pouvoir".
Re:This think should be able to WALK! (Score:2)
It still keeps 4 wheels on the ground at all times...that is as much surface in contact with the ground as every car out there today...
Thik of that next time you jaywalk
Mirror of Movies & Pictures (Score:4, Informative)
In preparation for the sites inevitable
Mirrors:
Pictures [mac.com]
Movies [mac.com]
The Hallucigenia (Score:3, Informative)
Researcher Simon Conway Morris had probably been working overnight a little too often, since he mistook the fossil for an eerie monster-like creature with a blob like head and spikes for legs, thus dubbing it "Hallucigenia". See the picture [yvonnenavarro.com]. Looks a little bit like Alien, doesn't it?
It was only in 1991 that this strange little animal's anatomy was correctly interpreted as a worm, the Onychophore, with spikes on it's back and tentacles or, better, pseudopods for walking (and probably eating).
I wonder if the pictures of this car are upside down...
ummm wow (Score:3, Funny)
But I'm a Plus_size guy. (Score:3, Funny)
Motion sickness much? (Score:1)
Actually its easier (Score:4, Informative)
We can do holonomic motion with as little as three wheels (popularlized by the palm robots from carnegie melon). Of course, four wheeled models have been made.
And I really think that it is from the four omniwheel concept that will really revolutionize travel, not this eight legged, asking to break down, feat of engineering.
(Of course, mandatory info links:
The wheels found on the palm robot:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/parts/R7
Cheaper, and larger, omniwheels:
http://www.omniwheel.com/cgi-bin/plu
The above are one of each, there are many more on both sites. Just start url hacking
Interface (Score:2, Insightful)
One steering wheel.
One gas pedal
One brake pedal.
Some gauge things, that lie about how fast you are really going.
And if you drive a manual, like me:
One clutch.
One shifter.
Now, how do you modify something simple and ingrained like the above interface, which btw has stood since Ford put out the model T?
Answer, you cant. Result: customers have to learn an entirely new control mechanism. Very bad.
Re:Interface (Score:2)
Re:Interface (Score:2)
Re:Interface (Score:2)
In fact to pare down that list of expected interface items:
Steering wheel
Gas pedal
Break pedal
Speedometer
Let's see what other interfaces people have adapted to their normal driving routines though... just to see how adaptable they really are.
- Radio with tuning knobs then sliders then up/down buttons plus presets, volume, bass, treble, balance
- Tape deck/CD deck with programming buttons
- Air conditioning / hea
Re:Interface (Score:2)
Looks like Akira Manga "Caretaker" (Score:1)
http://www.bbakira.co.uk/animevmanga/gangs
or here on the cover of the 3rd Manga volume:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/15697152
This car would be great...
more control to the robots the better
Sounds suspicious (Score:1)
Re:Sounds suspiciously like American Beauty (Score:2)
And then the next door neighbor blows Jimmy's Dad's head off - just like in American Beauty.
This will allow good population growth (Score:2)
What I really like about Japan... (Score:3, Funny)
That's why they'll eventually have their giant killer robots, while we're still optimizing the super-sized cup-holder layout for our pickup trucks.
Re:What I really like about Japan... (Score:1)
Re:What I really like about Japan... (Score:3, Funny)
> engineers largely use foreign designs as their
> prototypes.
It's great when things are "well established" isn't it? We can just accept them as a given and shift our critical reasoning down a gear or two.
Here is a list of other things that have been well established about the Japanese:
- They are short.
- They wear little round glasses.
- They have buck teeth.
- They are all Ninjas.
I'm British and I'd guess you're an American. Perhaps someone would lik
Re:What I really like about Japan... (Score:2, Interesting)
Clearance? (Score:1)
The new industrial revolution ii? (Score:3, Interesting)
In my [slashdot.org]
previous post on the new industrial revolution I discussed how the impact of
robotics and cad design would result in more variety seen on the road.
This post will focus on the technological impact these will have on car features
and safety.
1 wheel is good, 2 wheels are better, 4 are better still. When you
start to go into 8 wheel designs you start to run into problems with friction
(due to bad wheel alignment). This isn't noticeable on vehicles carrying
large mass (such as semi trucks) because the momentum of the mass keeps the
vehicle going in a straight line, but on small less than 2 ton vehicles one
wheel out of alignment would be very noticeable. Although technology
exists to re-align your tires on the fly exists, current auto makers have yet to
implement that type of self repair into their vehicles. Instead they rely
on good old physics and mechanical engineering to figure out how best to tune
the suspension for maximum performance.
With robotics and sensors implemented mechanical suspension systems will be
obsolete. Cars like this one will make adjustments on the fly to suite current
road conditions, instead of the specialized approach used by automakers today.
If you want to go really fast, you buy a car with a big engine, low to the
ground. If you expect to be driving on rough terrain you buy a 4wd vehicle
with adequate ride clearance. Shouldn't transportation be able to adapt to
it's environment?
The main reason automakers take this specialized approach is so they can
break the car market into different segments. Instead of creating a cheap, one
size fits all vehicle we get many choices that are basically the same ideas all
rehashed in one form or another so they can appeal to a wider audience. Jim bob
likes his ford f150, soccer mom likes her GMC suburban, Gary geek loves his
prius hybrid. For the most part though, all these cars still have the same
wheels, drive train, suspension as the other does. How can one justify
that as truly different?
Because of our new industrial revolution and the rising computation power of
electronics, we'll start seeing things like self driving cars as standard
equipment. This will in turn drive down the prices of material logistics
for manufacturing plants as they will no longer have to rely on teamsters unions
to deliver materials or finished products to market. With robotic factories and
robotic delivery bringing the labor cost down to near zero, hopefully we will
see the prices of these new vehicles drop in line with that of the manufacturing
costs. An added benefit to the consumer will be the inclusion of these new high
tech features as standard option packages.
Right now is a transition time to this new industrial revolution. I
know in the long run my children will benefit from both the choice and low price
of these internationally produced goods. As more of the world produces a
product, their need for this product increases as well, whether it be cars, IT
services, computers, or what not. Demand creates necessity, which turns into
invention.
We won't see much of the old technology on the road in 20 years. By then the
57 Chevy will be 66 years old, old enough to collect social security if it still
exists. I think the car of the future wont look anything like the car of
the present because of all the variety that will exist.
Um, Internal LANs have been on cars for ages... (Score:1)
The interaction is certainly becoming more pervasive, though: Don't try removing your factory stereo in the upcoming models, as you car will not work correctly (No, Windows is NOT involved, either)
I'd like to see.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I'd like to see.. (Score:1)
What? Have you never seen temaki [hisshosushi.com] (hand rolls)? Carbs, protein, and great seasoning in a convenient hand-held form. It's like a club sandwich, but smaller and more efficient. Or maybe it's more like a sub/hoagie/hero/grinder. Well, it's like both...but better.
Re:I'd like to see.. (Score:2)
Now having been to Japan, I can say that their club sandwiches are smaller, though I don't know how you measure their efficiency.
But Can It? (Score:1)
And yeah, I say it's a mouse droid.
Ech! That things ugly... (Score:2)
Heavy Weather (Score:2)
It brings new meaning to the phrase "Blue Screen of Death." Pray it doesn't use embedded Windows.
Correct me if I'm wrong... (Score:2)
That thing looks like it'll be a blast... (Score:2)
Just imagine driving that thing through Midtown...
Re:well (Score:1)
Re:Impressed 5/8 (Score:2)
What if each wheel/suspension assembly contains it's own CPU, making eight identical, interchangeable, mass-produceable components that can plug onto virtually any chassis? That would not be overkill, that would be sensible.
Until I can read an English translation, I'l
Re:Impressed 5/8 (Score:1)
CPU (Score:1)
called ATOM.
Satellite CPU would be same or nearly equally powerful(cost) processor,I assume.
Re:CPU (Score:1)