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Sand Flea Jumping Robot

Boston Dynamics

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Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

15M views14 years ago2 recommendations

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Boston Dynamics demonstrates the Sand Flea, an eleven-pound RC-style robot capable of jumping thirty feet into the air.

Sand Flea is an 11-lb robot with one trick up its sleeve: Normally it drives like an RC car, but when it needs to it can jump 30 feet into the air. An onboard stabilization system keeps it oriented during flight to improve the view from the video uplink and to control landings. Current development of Sand Flea is funded by the The US Army's Rapid Equipping Force. For more information visit www.BostonDynamics.com.

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended as an impressive demonstration of agile robotics and mechanical stabilization in flight.

iamshson Hacker News • Recommends

On “Google Acquires Boston Dynamics”

Aha, Boston Dynamics has such wild repertoire of robots. Well done. Forget Big Dog, I like this robot a lot: link to this video Maps, Self-Driving car, robots and a high quality analytics team. On top of that, robotic team comprises of various reputed groups with talented well regarded individuals. I look forward to the future. Also, how much disparity will arise in quality of living between North America and various Asian countries, or even Europe.
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icebrainingon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Why Google Wants to Sell Its Robots: Reality Is Hard”

Have you seen the robots they developed? Reducing it to "moving from point A to B" is misleading, in my opinion, even if technically true. They essentially developed machines that could move in difficult terrains, often where humans themselves couldn't. My favorite is the Sand Flea, a small car which can jump 9 meters (30-feet) into the air: link to this video
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User8712on Hacker News • Mentions

On “MorpHex, a hexapod robot”

How is it practical? It's a beautiful design, but far simpler designs can run circles around it in every scenario I can imagine. A small version might make for a fun desk toy. When I think practical, I think Boston Dynamics. link link to this video
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awqrreon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Salto – UC Berkeley’s Agile Jumping Robot”

Yes, a robot that can jump on top of a building in 1 jump sounds more useful to me, something like this one: link to this video .
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sktrdieon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Nasa will send helicopter to Mars to test otherworldly flight”

So if it falls on its side, something that has a probably a 50% chance of happening, can it get back up? I always thought that for exploring another planet, you shouldn't really use something with wheels or wings. Something different like small "jumping robots" would make a lot more sense in a place where you have literally the ability to do 0-hardware maintenance. Instead of a single expensive flying robot, why not send a fleet of these little small jumping-robots instead, to more quickly and cheaply explore the area: link to this video
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throwaway84742on Hacker News • Mentions

On “Boston Dynamics will start selling its dog-like SpotMini robot in 2019”

A slightly larger version of Sand Flea seems like a better fit. Disposable, can be deployed relatively cheaply in large quantities, with good camo nearly invisible on the ground, can scale obstacles by jumping. Could be made to carry a fragmentation payload and/or spy gear. link to this video
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capekwasrighton Hacker News • Mentions

On “Throwable Robot Car Always Lands on Four Wheels”

…r wheels, in order to maximize energy dissipation by the wheels on landing and thus minimize shock seen by the body. As a secondary benefit, footage from the onboard camera stood a chance to be usable during a hop, instead of being a blurry mess. Lots of great details in their patent filing for the robot2. Source: I helped design this robot 1: link to this video 2: link…
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93poon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Extreme Parkour with Legged Robots”

Here's a Boston Dynamics one that is less than a foot long, 11 pounds, and can jump 30 feet (easily from ground to roof of one story building) link to this video
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Teeveron Hacker News • Mentions

On “Japan's first-ever soft lunar landing with SLIM spacecraft [video]”

…mall fraction of your research and if fleas get stuck somewhere another flea can attempt to rescue it. You could even have the fleas return home to overwinter if they're not designed to withstand the winter. There's so much versatility that you gain in a model like this with small disposable rover robots paired with massive stationary landers. 0 link to this video…
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Teeveron Hacker News • Mentions

On “NASA's Europa Clipper: Miles Down, Instruments Deploying”

I'm not sure about that specifically, I've only taken an intro to orbital mechanics class so esoteric orbital maneuvers are a bit beyond me but I understand that in some cases it is possible. I would imagine that one technique that we have yet to try is putting fuel depots in long distance places to facilitate the execution of these manuevers. With that said what I had in mind when I wrote my comment wasn't using one rocket to launch a 100 probes to different solar bodies but instead to launch 100 probes to a single body in one go. I envision a time where we'll deploy massive constellations of remote sensing satellites, like mini-star link constellations for each solar body be it a moon or p…
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