Segway's new RMP, sporting omnidirectional tires
Segway, the company that brought you the two wheeled, self balancing electric get- around vehicle, has unveiled a new model at RoboBusiness 2008. At the moment we don’t know much about the new RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform), apart from it being a standalone autonomous object transportation robot and the suggestion that it might cost up to £31,500, that’s $50,000 for you americans 
. The platform itself in this concept seems to be relatively low to the ground, giving it a low centre of gravity. It will be sporting my new favourite concept subject- omnidirectional wheels! These wheels would obviously allow the robot to move in any direction required, giving it the capability of moving in and out of spots that other conventional robots would not be able to move around in. As for the weight it can carry, in the video it shows a man kneeling on top of it, and later in the MAKE article it says that it can carry up to 400lb. See the video below.
This year, so far, I have found two different concepts which use omnidirectional wheels, both designed by major companies, suggesting the future is looking bright for this new technology.
You can find the original article at MAKE here.
Many of you may use the Bebo social networking site. This site has fairly recently allowed third party applications such as games, and one of the most popular games is kick ups. In this game you have to click on the ball at the right time to make it bounce. This is not as easy as it sounds, and a pretty average score is about 12 or 13 before the ball drops to the ground. If you look on the leaderboards, you often see people with huge scores like 998. This is thanks to a computer program being used by people to train up their kicks. What I am going to explain is not this technique, but a simpler one that doesn’t involve downloading anything, meaning that there’s no risk of getting viruses. With this you can go on as long as you like, but it’s quite time consuming.
Hi everybody, sorry I haven’t posted for so long. I’ve had exams, but now I’m back I have been overwhelmed by the number of hits I have been getting! Thanks everybody!
To access the simulator, open Google Earth and hit (in Windows) Ctrl+Alt+A or Command+Option+A in Mac OS. You can start anywhere in the world- from a list of pre-determined airports you can choose from or from the point you are at at the moment you push the command for the flight sim. The F16 Viper is a quick fighter jet, but the SR22 is easier to fly. A list of controls can be found 
