::Robocam Mimics Human Eye Movement.

Even the smallest of creations can create some pretty significant results. This small robotic device was created by a team at the Technical University of Munich, and it’s designed specifically to pan and tilt a small robotic camera. The interesting part is the design process, in which the researchers and scientists made it so that the small robo-cam follows the same movements as the human eye. The small robot is meant to keep up with the human eye in gaze-tracking studies.

The final result is a robo-cam that features a three degrees movement, and manages to flick around at a rapid pace, which was clocked at 2500 degrees per second. To put that into some perspective, the human eye maxes out at a clocked 1000 degrees per second. The creators of the robo-cam utilized ultrasonic piezo-actuators which are used to drive prismatic joints. Those joints drive the spherically-jointed rods that are attached to the camera.

The mini robo-cam manages to weigh in less than 100 grams, and the whole thing is designed to move soft enough that it doesn’t actually bother the person that it is situated upon. A small invention, but one that manages to bring in big results.

Further Reading and Information Courtesy: My Brain, Ubergizmo.