I saw this last year, really cool demo. Stronger materials are needed to make this useful and that looks like a nightmare to manufacture at scale. Also mechanical advantage seems to be a major tradeoff.
There is a reason biology tugs on ropes and lets reaction surfaces slide around instead.
> There is a reason biology tugs on ropes and lets reaction surfaces slide around instead.
And that reason is that it's very difficult to have a rolling joint or muscle because you can't get blood into it. It's largely fundamentally inaccessible to an organism that must grow itself. There are massive advantages that are unexplored by evolution.
Even further, gears are inherently asymmetric, meaning they are even harder to evolve. Nevertheless nature DOES use gears[1] when it can.
> You can shape the surfaces the way you want for the movement you need.
> Also mechanical advantage seems to be a major tradeoff. There is a reason biology tugs on ropes and lets reaction surfaces slide around instead.
I'm not sure I understand. Do you think that there's a biological benefit to ropes and sliding (compared to this)? Or is it simply that ropes/sliding are easier to evolve? You probably know this, but (in case others are unaware) there are rotary "engines" in biology (e.g., bacterial flagellum and F0F1 ATPase), but, obviously, they are not quite like this spherical gear.
Imagine two sliding surfaces held agains each other and pulled by ropes.
You can shape the surfaces the way you want for the movement you need. Make them as big or small depending on how much compressive load you need to transfer. You can place as many ropes, controlled ropes or just stretch ropes to have as much flexibily, control and ability to survive tension as you need.
You can do all of this with pretty crappy materials and high tolerances.
When compared to that, gears that transfer all of the load through individual small teeth that must be made from incredible materials and struggle if you need multiple degrees of freedom there's really no competition.
Unless you need to deal with fast spinning things or simple 1dof fixed axis rotations gears are terrible technology and they rarely ever evolved not because they are hard but because they have huge weeknesses and barely any advantages.
The only gears that ever evolved that I know of are used for syncing movement.
Also, "ropes" have the benefit of driving wide ranges of rotation while requiring relatively small muscle contraction distance, by attaching close to a joint's pivot point, which meshes well with muscle fiber physical characteristics and limits.
E.g. a 135° forearm range driven by a 4-5cm tri/bicep contraction
Example of 1D gear used in planthopper used for syncing the movement of the legs [1]. Even there the gears are only used for young planthoppers, and adults use another syncing mechanism after their skin molts away.
its actually like a hydraulic cushion , with a self renewable matrix between the bones. we are close to mimicking tissue renewal with some of the recent materials advances.
The paper mentions that the rough surface of sintered powdered metal 3D printing won’t work (presumably way to much sliding friction). It also suggests the possibility of using that printing technique and surface machining it after printing.
By far the easiest way to deal with this would be to just print them slightly oversized, add some abrasive paste, and then 'run in' a set using some balanced pattern of movement, tightening the clearance as the parts wear in until they're sufficiently smooth.
I work at a company that is starting this debate releasing a product that is "good enough" and some time after launch provide a substantial upgrade package OTA for additional cost.
Some members of the team, especially the older generation, are very much against this idea. They suggest we develop the product until we get the most we can out of the hardware then never touch it again. They fear customers will be unhappy that the hardware box they bought last year suddenly has better performance because of an update (that they had to pay more for).
Younger members of the team suggest that we can ship it earlier and working well but not completely optimized. Then release this update unlocking better performance.
Or, as another example, many years ago the Italian FIAT and the Spanish SEAT were making very similar models with same engines but the SEAT had the same engine tuned down to fewer HPs since it was the "cheaper" line, or in more recent times when within the same car manufacturer catalog sported three different cars belonging to different segments that had the same engine with only a few different parts (besides ECU regulations) with three different power levels.
- a good way for regulators to make money off any vehicle owner who choses to upgrade a vehicle
-an ominous expansion of 'upgrade package' marketing for one of life's essentials. BMW are already flogging subscription heated seats.
I can buy an entire engine and ECU (LS, Magnum etc) for around 250 bucks in a US wrecking yard, spend around 2.5k to rebuild and have a 500 hp engine. I worry the era of parts scavenging (highly efficient environmental recycling and a major source of revenue for many) is being aggressively curtailed in the name of centralized control and profits. (I'm currently in UK and already looking for older Jaguar parts over here, same logic).
Right to own and modify is gravely under threat in many other areas too, IMO the 'younger generation' (sic) seem strangely unconcerned or aware of this, presumably assuming product abundance and affordable pricing will last forever...
Can you honestly say that your lived experience hasn't changed you?
It's clear "gangster rap" doesn't ruin anyone's lives like the parents of the 90's thought it might. That doesn't absolve it from affecting you in more subtle ways (good and bad).
Maybe I don't understand the question but of course a persons lived experience affects them. It seems like you've moved the goal posts.
What I'm pointing out is that OPs moralizing on good media "Anime, Books" vs bad media "Rap, Trash Magazines" is likely focusing on the wrong things. A person's friends are ultimately what matter in prioritizing values (as far as values can be shaped by environment).
But the claim about "gangster rap" (a term I don't like) was "that shit will warp your mind." is false. Moreover, Anime has tons of content that's way darker than anything you'll find in rap. But again, I don't think it really matters.
Lol I'm not moralizing at all, I stated it applies to all information regardless and so I cut the cord.
24 hour news is worse for this than gangster rap and turned off both so the same reason, I didn't like the messaging coming from it. NWO and Ghetto boys pushed me out of the genre, that doesn't the music is bad just something I choose to not engage with based off their content.
You got super defensive over what should be obvious, the content and people you engage with will define your character.
Normativity by definition is related to actions/outcomes that society deems good/desirable/permissible; non-normativity, the opposite. Societal goals are always a moving target, so it follows that normativity is as well.
My dad still uses language like "C'mon! Be a man and do {this thing}."
Personally, I believe when I'm old and crotchety the winds of society will leave my language at something like "C'mon! You should do {this thing}." and leave the gender out of it entirely.
There is a reason biology tugs on ropes and lets reaction surfaces slide around instead.