MIT Mini Cheetah Robot Can Do Backflips

Robots. Right now we make them do all kinds of crazy stuff and we point and say “cool” or we laugh, but just remember that laughter is going to turn to screaming in our near future. So anyway, here’s the latest thing a robot can do. Isn’t it neat? Yay! So cool. We are so screwed.


Scientists from the Biomimetic Robotics Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a smaller, 20-pound version of their hurdle jumping four-legged cheetah robot. Presumably this began with one of them saying, “Gentlemen, we can rebuild it” followed by some cool ’70s TV music and bionic sounds, but that is not confirmed.

The new robot can do something that no other four-legged robot has done yet. This mini-cheetah robot can do backflips. It’s pretty damn good at it too. The quadruped can bend and swing its legs wide, allowing it to walk either right side up or upside down. The robot can also walk over uneven terrain twice as fast as an average person’s walking speed. And thanks to those sweet backflips it can join the circus if it ever runs away from its jailers and make a living. Check out some of its moves in the video below:

I can’t wait for the parkour robots that are sure to follow.

[via Laughing Squid]

Disney Working on Robot Stunt Doubles

Remember a month ago when Disney’s Stickman was the best robotic stuntman technology they had? Good times. Things are about to get way more human and way more creepy. Now the company is working on a series of truly acrobatic, humanoid stunt robots with their Stuntronics project.

In the video below, the daredevil robots can be seen doing different acrobatic tricks as they get launched in the air and land in nets. The robots are self-correcting and self-balancing as they hurtle through the air. One of the ‘bots even appears to soar through the air like a superhero – though it can’t land on its own – at least not yet. That one pose that it does in midair reminds me of Iron Man. I predict that by 2044, these things will be zipping around Disney theme parks and occasionally colliding with birds.

Naturally, we can expect to see these robots in their theme parks in the future, as well as acting as stunt doubles in movies. Sorry stuntmen, it looks like you guys and gals are about to be put out of business by robots. Disney is well on the way to becoming Westworld. I just hope we are ready for the robot uprising when it happens.

[via Techcrunch via Gizmodo]

Disney’s Stickman Robot Is Master of Acrobatics

Disney is always pushing boundaries when it comes to their robots. That’s why the robots in their theme parks are so cool. Check out this video demonstration of Disney Research’s Stickman. It’s a robotic, and acrobatic stickperson that can do single and double backflips.

Robots have become better at imitating some of the stunts that humans can do. So much so that a simple two degree of freedom robot can be an awesome acrobat. It uses a gravity-driven pendulum to launch, and can perform a bunch of somersaulting stunts. The robot uses an inertial-measurement unit (IMU) and a laser rangefinder to estimate where it is in mid-flight and actuates to change its motion both on and off the pendulum. That’s nerd talk for “It’s really effing good in the circus.”

We have no what Stickman will eventually be used for, but I’m hoping that Disney puts on a circus show with nothing but robots. Or maybe they will enter one of their robots in the Olympic games and it will win a gold medal. I have no idea. They’ll probably use these robots to round people up and force them to go to Disney World against their will.

Seriously though, it’s pretty cool to see this thing in action.

[via Boing Boing via Geekologie]