The Cubli: a cube that can jump up, balance, and 'walk'

The Cubli is a 15 × 15 × 15 cm cube that can jump up and balance on its corner. Reaction wheels mounted on three faces of the cube rotate at high angular velocities and then brake suddenly, causing the Cubli to jump up. Once the Cubli has almost reached the corner stand up position, controlled motor torques are applied to make it balance on its corner. In addition to balancing, the motor torques can also be used to achieve a controlled fall such that the Cubli can be commanded to fall in any arbitrary direction. Combining these three abilities -- jumping up, balancing, and controlled falling -- the Cubli is able to 'walk'.

 Lead Researchers: Gajamohan Mohanarajah and Raffaello D'Andrea This work was done at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, ETH Zurich, Switzerland and was funded in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), grant number 146717.

 For more details visit: http://www.idsc.ethz.ch/Research_DAndrea/Cubli

 

Cosmic Superstrings - Sixty Symbols

Professor Ed Copeland on strings - and superstrings.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 81. Thermodynamics

The three laws of thermodynamics are cited and explained.

 

Metamaterials and the Science of Invisibility: Newton Lecture 2013

A lecture given by the 2013 winner of the Isaac Newton medal, Professor Sir John Pendry, Imperial College London, and chaired by Professor Roy Sambles, Exeter University.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 79. Energy of Phase Changes

The roles of heat of fusion, and vaporization, in changes in phase.

Graphene: Materials in the Flatland ( A lecture by Prof. Sir Konstantin Novoselov)

In 2010, two physicists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, working at the University of Manchester, received the Nobel Prize for Physics for making and studying a new form of carbon -- graphene. Prof. Sir Konstantin Novoselov, recipient of one of IOP's highest awards, Honorary Fellowship, will talk about the work that led to the discovery of Graphene, what makes it so special, its current applications and what the future holds for this remarkable material.

 

Hewitt-Drew-it! 75. Heat Transfer

Conduction, convection, and radiation.

 

NASA | Alien Atmospheres

Since the early 1990's, astronomers have known that extrasolar planets, or "exoplanets," orbit stars light-years beyond our own solar system. Although most exoplanets are too distant to be directly imaged, detailed studies have been made of their size, composition, and even atmospheric makeup - but how? By observing periodic variations in the parent star's brightness and color, astronomers can indirectly determine an exoplanet's distance from its star, its size, and its mass. But to truly understand an exoplanet astronomers must study its atmosphere, and they do so by splitting apart the parent star's light during a planetary transit.

 

Big Brains. Small Films. Benoît Mandelbrot, The Father of Fractals | IBM

BM and http://IBMblr.Tumblr.com celebrate the life of Benoit B. Mandelbrot, IBM Fellow Emeritus and Fractal Pioneer. In this final interview shot by filmmaker Erol Morris, Mandelbrot shares his love for mathematics and how it led him to his wondrous discovery of fractals. His work lives on today in many innovations in science, design, telecommunications, medicine, renewable energy, film (special effects), gaming (computer graphics) and more.