[LINK] Robot mini

[Ivan Trundle]

This has to be seen to be believed... (and I'm not sure that I do, even 
after viewing the videos)

http://www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin/

Vehicle to autonomous biped robot conversion for the Mini Cooper r50.

"I first had the vision to build a robot while working as an engineer 
on the old Mini Coopers in the late 1960s. There were no real robots at 
the time of course, so it was purely science-fiction. But I always 
believed a robot would be the most natural complement to the automobile 
- a full biped, intelligent version having great strength, dexterity 
and a library of mechanical knowledge. I imagined a robot with the 
ability to repair vehicles, direct traffic and watch over high-accident 
crossroads to preempt accidents.

This ambition started to look possible when work began on the new Mini. 
I've always believed BMW overbuilds many of their parts, so the 
over-building of certain Mini applications for my robotics use went 
unnoticed. In 1998, I began tests in a remote location outside Oxford.

In 2000 I thought my formal connection to Mini might be severed when 
Rover was sold by BMW. Luckily, BMW chose to retain the Mini brand. 
Subsequently, a few engineers would need to stay in England - Oxford to 
be exact. I was slated for retirement and was originally from the 
Oxford area so it raised little suspicion when I offered to stay. From 
then on, progress was swift."

(the car-stopping exercise is dramatic, to say the least...)

iT