The Market
Military and civil service robots, are currently the largest market segment for most robotics manufacturers. There are many emerging opportunities in autonomous surveillance, and equipment setup.
The Robot
Giraffe was designed for NPC Robotics to showcase the benefits of a robot, equipped with a self-assembling pole attached to it. Giraffe contains a “ribbon-lift”, which spools out three metal ribbons, that form into a rigid, triangular pole, capable of lifting a 50 pound load up to 15 feet in the air. Ribbon lifts are also made in larger sizes capable of supporting a 500 pound load 25 feet in the air as well. This example shows a pan-tilt-zoom camera attached to the pole, however, it could just as easily be a lighting fixture, an antenna, a public broadcast device, a weather measurement instrument, or countless other ideas where a mobile, autonomous pole is needed. Giraffe is equipped to automatic linear actuators that self-level the robot before deploying the pole on sloped terrain. Want to light a runway at night, on the fly? Deploy a small fleet of these robots, GPS equipped, with a runway light on top, and send them off on their own to automatically position themselves along the runway. Countless possibilities for this technology.
Giraffe Features:
NPC Robotics
2007