Not one to shy away from blowing our minds, Disney has unveiled their latest autonomous robot – and this one seems to have a flair for the finer things in life.
Called the BeachBot, this friendly-looking robot is an artist in it‘s own right.
Designed to essentially decorate beaches, the BeachBot will draw massive, intricate images on the sand, simply by following a programmed route.
Saying that these drawings are big is an understatement – most of the images will cover an impressive 30 square foot area on the sand, so they can be seen from miles away.
And just what is it that the BeachBot seamlessly etches onto the sand? Well, Disney-drawings, of course. The BeachBot will quickly and perfectly (in under 10 minutes) illuminate boring old beaches with images from your favourite Disney movies like The Lion King or Finding Nemo – which is quite apt.
The BeachBot was designed and developed by Disney Research in Zurich. While Disney has ventured into autonomous robots many times before – especially those that sashay around their theme parks – this one is quite something (and in my opinion way cooler than other robot‘s we‘ve seen as of late.)
Measuring at only 2 foot long and 15-inches wide, the BeachBot uses 7 servo motors to unleash the prongs at the back of the robot that “˜draws‘ the amazing images.
The prongs are also able to use different “˜brush strokes‘ which measure between 5cm and 40 cm wide – so the image can have that more detail added to it.
As for what it moves on, the robot has big, balloon-like wheels which allows it to maneuver the difficult sand terrain. Whats perhaps more incredible about the wheels is the fact that they were designed specifically to not leave track marks, thus not disrupting the drawing.
The BeachBot also needs little assistance from us mere mortals. All the humans have to do is place reflective poles around the sand to define the area in which the BeachBot should draw.
Bit the beach is not the only place you will be able to catch a glimpse of Disney‘s Van Gogh robot. according to it‘s developers, they are currently working on a “˜snow version‘ that will be able to draw the same amazing drawings in the snow.
No word yet on when the BeachBot will make it‘s official pubic debut, but when it does, you will be able to catch the BeachBot showing off it‘s creativity on Disney‘s resort beaches.
So next time you see a massive Mufasa on the shoreline, you can rest assured knowing it‘s just the ultra creative BeachBot at work.
Check out the video of the BeachBot in action below:
Source: Wired
