Transformable
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The Expandy is a single piece of furniture that can be expanded width-wise to serve three purposes. Simply by pulling on it from one end, users are able to convert it from an armchair to a loveseat to a sofa.
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While rickshaws are useful for hauling cargo in urban settings, scooters are much nimbler and easier to park. The Surge S32 combines both forms of transit in one modular vehicle, as it features a scooter that can be detached from a rickshaw body.
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While it's always important to accommodate bicycle commuters, bike parking spots on trains can't seat non-cyclists when not in use. An experimental setup currently being trialled in Switzerland, however, may soon change that.
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Two wheels, a motor, a seat, some handlebars and some footrests: put 'em in one arrangement, and you've got a sportsbike. In another, a cruiser. Or an adventure machine. Or a commuter. Why not a single, shape-shifting architecture that does it all?
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Swiss Mile's ANYmal robot is a remarkable beast, capable of getting around as a wheeled quadruped, or standing up on its hind legs and using its front wheels as hands. Now, it's learning to do useful tasks – in about the funniest way possible.
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Japan's giant human-piloted, humanoid Gundam-style robots are neat and everything, but … why walk if you can roll on four wheels? That's what the Archax does, transforming between robot and vehicle configurations.
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If you're traveling with a small child, you typically have to bring both a folding stroller and a suitcase. The Strollug is designed to simplify matters by transforming from a stroller into luggage and back again, as needed.
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Most powered wheelchairs have at least two problems: they can't climb stairs, and the user has to remain in a single seated position. An experimental new robotic wheelchair, however, addresses both shortcomings.
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If a robot is trying to traverse rugged, irregular terrain, it's limited by having just one body shape. The Tetraflex robot was designed with this fact in mind, as it can change shape to adopt different modes of locomotion.
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If you're trying to distribute environmental sensors over a wide area by dropping them from a drone, you don't want them all landing in the same place. With that fact in mind, University of Washington scientists have created origami "microfliers."
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Robots often struggle to adapt to changing conditions. Now engineers at Caltech have designed a new robot that can roll around on four wheels, flip them into rotors to fly, or transform for six other types of motion.
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It's certainly not uncommon for backpackers to carry a rain poncho, hammock, shelter and groundsheet. The Nomad Cape is aimed at lightening their load, by combining all four pieces of gear in one unit.
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