Flowers ... robots

A special flower is 'planted' in the garden where when someone breaks in, 'flowers' will collect images and transfer them to your computer, announcing the presence of strange guests will be very interesting.

The group built flower robots (from left to right): Nguyen Sy Hung, Phan Doan Anh Tuan, Vo Phuoc Loc and Truong Dang Trung - Photos: TV

That 'flower tree' is the product of four 3rd year students of the University of Technical Education in Ho Chi Minh City: robot flower - one of the first steps of the development of biomimicrobial robot technology ( biomimetics in Vietnam.

30cm tall, flower robot consists of three main parts: body, leaf, flower - capable of moving separately and independently of each other. When someone approaches the flower pot, the flower will automatically point to the person, the petals spread out, the camera starts to operate, receives the image and transmits it to the server, informing the owner of the house 'there are guests. 'Although the owner is anywhere.

What's interesting is that robots are capable of dancing to music. The system will coordinate the movements of the body, leaf, flower, and create separate dances for each piece. After tired working hours, users can place flower pots on their desks, listen to music while watching the funny dance of robots.

To test the environment, the robot body has integrated light sensor. When the light shines on, the leaves will vibrate and the petals open to simulate the bloom state of a real flower. Based on the openness of the petals, users can assess the working environment with enough light, the humidity is too high .

Nguyen Sy Hung (SV of Electronic Engineering Course No. 7 University of Technical Education in Ho Chi Minh City, robot leader) said that in the future, the group will develop more sensors to measure the toxicity of air. If a certain amount of toxic air that the sensor can recognize, the entire branches, leaves and flowers of the robot hang down, the petals close.

According to Hung, factories and factories can use this robot to check the working environment for workers.

Recalling the journey to create a flower robot, Phan Doan Anh Tuan (7-year mechatronics SV) shared: 'The most difficult thing to do is to make a real flower. There are many questions asked: How to control flexible joints? Which structure makes the flowers blooming, the body wavering? Many ideas are put forward and experimented, many times seemingly impasse. Good luck but finally succeed '.

Hung also said the group is trying to perfect the robot to send a report to the international conference on biological simulated robots led by IEEE - the leading electronic journal in the field of computer science and communications - next October in Shenzhen (China). The cost of making this robot is quite soft: 1 million VND (will increase if equipped with toxic gas detection sensor).

During an interview with American professors to receive Intel scholarships, when asked 'What research topic do you have?', Nguyen Sy Hung immediately presented the topic of flower robots. Hung's professional expertise, robot passion, creativity . convinced the professors completely. In July, Hung will leave for the United States to study for the last two years in electronics with a $ 80,000 scholarship from Intel.