Beer-Fetching Robot Is The Solution You Didn't Know You Needed

Don’t you hate it when you leave a perfectly good can of Guinness just lying on the ground somewhere?  But leaning over to pick it up is so hard.  And poking at it with a stick to roll it home is so inconvenient.  There has to be an easier way!  And there is, with Yale’s remote-controlled helicopter which has a robotic hand that autonomously grips and balances a boozy payload of up to four and a half pounds.

The hand helicopter can carry objects that weigh up to two kilograms [~4.5 pounds], at speeds reaching 130 kilometers an hour [~80mpg]. The robotic hand, which is made of a flexible plastic, is operated by a single motor that controls four fingers. The simple, lightweight design of the hand also absorbs vibrations when the hand grips an object, letting the helicopter hover stably. [TechnologyReview via NextBigFuture]

They haven’t actually tested it at that top speed yet, although the $3,000 helicopter is supposed to be able to reach that speed.  Well, what are you waiting for?  That beer isn’t going to fly itself into my stomach for breakfast. I’m a blogger, damn it.  If I’m not at least two sheets to the wind by mid-morning the other bloggers are going to make fun of me.  Get it together, Yale robot helicopter.