More and more robots can do more things for us. From carrying glasses of wine, teaching you to program or cleaning your home. Now comes the first humanoid that can fly and will serve as support in rescue missions.
A team of scientists from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia are implementing a small jetpack on the back of their humanoid iCub. This to function as support in natural disaster situations where humans or drones cannot easily access.
“Every year, around 300 natural disasters kill approximately 90,000 humans and affect 160 million people in the world.
Italian Institute of Technology
This little “Iron Man” measures 1.04 meters and will have a flight direction system in the palm of his “hands”, just like the superhero from Marvel Studios. Thanks to this system, the iCub robot can complete tasks indoors and outdoors, which many robots cannot yet achieve.
Thanks to its humanoid shape, the iCub can use its arms to manipulate objects, walk, crawl and sit on any terrain and thanks to its propulsion motors it can be moved more easily.
It is worth mentioning that the iCub project started in September 2004 thanks to funding from the European Commission and to date it continues its development to improve both its software and its intelligence as well as its hardware.
Currently only 40 units of this robot have been built and are available in laboratories in Europe, the United States, Korea, Singapore, China and Japan. However, they want to expand production in order to reduce the damage caused by natural disasters.
What do you think of this new “little Iron Man”? Do you think the size of this humanoid is an impediment or a virtue? Leave us your opinion in the comments of our social networks.