nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle) (06/03/90)
In article <798@sagpd1.UUCP> monty@sagpd1.UUCP (Monty Saine) writes: > > Does anyone remember a six-legged cyndrical robot that was called I >think OMNIBOT. The thing could squat down to go under obstacles, was strong >enough to pick up a pickup (at least lift the rear wheels off the ground) >and agile enough to climb into said pickup. You are describing the Odetics ODEX 1. This six-legged machine was built by Odetics Inc of Anaheim, CA. It's an impressive feat of mechanical engineering. It was strictly a technology demonstrator; it was never used for anything. It didn't seem to lead to any business for Odetics. I once talked to the designer of the machine, who seemed sad that there was no market for legged, mobile machines. Odetics does make a robotic cartridge-changer for VCRs, as part of a system used for TV station automation. It's basically a video jukebox with six 3/4" decks and a tape library, coupled to appropriate scheduling software. But from a robotics standpoint, it's uninteresting. John Nagle