Meet CHIMP, also known as the CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform Robot. Developed by engineers at Carnegie Mellon University, the humanoid ’bot can wield power tools, move 2x4s, and climb walls. And it will go for gold in DARPA’s annual Robotics Challenge next month. [Core77]
Meanwhile, NASA is challenging designers to create 3D-printable habitats for use in remote locations on Earth as well as to support efforts by us Earthlings’ to colonize deep space—specifically Mars. The concept-design phase of the competition runs through Sept. 27. [NASA]
Google is getting in on the Internet of Things. Its new Brillo operating system is designed as a cross-platform control hub and will roll out to developers later this year. [Wired]
US Army
U.S. Army Corps' research mechanical engineer Nick Boone with a piece of the ballistic wallpaper.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is developing a polymer film with a fiber inlay to keep walls upright during blasts from shells and other explosives. The adhesive wallpaper is lightweight and comes in rolls, allowing it to be readily applied in the field by soldiers seeking temporary refuge in masonry structures. [Gizmag]
London firm EcoLogicStudio designed a 430-square-foot pavilion for the 2015 Milan Expo’s Future Food District that features a water-and-algae-filled plastic skin whose contents will be harvested weekly during the event for use as food. [Smithsonian.com]
A student dormitory at the University of Miami, in Florida, was recently fitted with a closed-loop water recycling system. Watch it in action below. [LiveScience]