Two-legged robots are nothing new, but usually we see them walking, not running around a test lab. A pair of seemingly autonomous legs that can lap you in the park is a scary thought, after all. Such images haven't stopped the Advanced Mechanical Bip...
We all know that humanoid robots roaming the streets aren’t that far away, but there are still plenty of kinks to be worked out of the designs. The AMBER 2 Robot does its best to emulate human foot movements, with the goal of making a machine that can walk on all sorts of terrain.
The AMBER 2 Robot from Texas A&M Amber Lab has almost all of the pivot points necessary to mimic human-like locomotion, which is very complex. You’ll note the purposeful stumble at the end of the video, which was intentional to show that the boom only provided lateral stability.
I want to see when these kinds of legs will be integrated into a real walking robot. Hopefully, Skynet won’t use them to help exterminate us all.
Humanoid robots can be pretty creepy, but most of them aren’t that strong. That’s because their electric motors they use are pretty limited due to size. However scientists are working on making humanoid robots more powerful. The SCHAFT robot is a new prototype that features actuators that could make robots much stronger.
SCHAFT Inc. is an off-shoot of the University of Tokyo’s Jouhou System Kougaku Laboratory, which was the first lab to develop the actuator technology. SCHAFT is the first humanoid robot to use them. Can you dig it? Right on.
The actuator technology works by replacing standard servos with motor systems that have higher output, are capacitor-powered, and are water-cooled. The robot gets added strength and by pairing the new motors with advanced algorithms to control its bipedal movement, it can now withstand being shoved or kicked and remain upright.
That’s just frakkin great. Soon we won’t even be able to push them over. Not that robot tipping is all that much fun, but damnit, do you scientists actually want us all to die in the robopocalypse?
Those looking to tinker with humanoid robots aren't exactly lacking for options these days, but Cognitive Spring is taking a slightly different approach than most with its Arduino-based cSpring bipedal robot -- one of the semifinalists in the Insert Coin competition here at Expand. Rather than offering a readymade robot like Nao that largely makes software the focus of user customization, cSpring is designed to be highly customizable (and open source) on both the hardware and software fronts. Indeed, the company is hoping to encourage such development by rewarding crowd-sourced work with what it calls "paid achievements."
As for the robot itself, it's currently designed to work with an 11-inch MacBook Air that conveniently doubles as its torso, and it relies on a PrimeSense motion sensor to monitor its surroundings. One of the real selling points for potential developers, though, are the array of servos that power the robot's legs, which can operate simultaneously and provide some 40 pounds of lift apiece. Those also give the robot a decent range of movement, although it hasn't yet learned to fully walk (that's one area the company suggests could be expanded upon by others).
An engineer in Russia has decided that building humanoid robots has been done enough, so he decided to go and build his own two-legged ‘bots to take on Honda’s Asimo and other bipedal machines. Despite being built in Russia, what you’re looking at here is something I like to call “TurkeyBot.”
If I’m understanding the specs correctly, creator Konstantin Ivanov claims this 180kg (~396 lb.) birdbot can walk at speeds up to 5km/h (~3MPH) while carrying a passenger on its back. He also calls it the “Robot Ostrich of Jurassic Period,” so I was completely wrong about that turkey thing. I love how its feet look like the bases of office swivel chairs. Here, check it out in action:
As you noticed in the video, there’s also another birdbot which appears to be much skinnier, and capable of pulling a carriage. In fact, the skinny ostrichbot supposedly hits speeds up to 70km/h (~43mph)! If that’s really true, it could even outrun a cheetah (robot.) Though until I see the ostrichbot running at full speed, I’ll reserve judgment. Still, I wouldn’t want to run into these things in a dark alleyway.
Well, there goes my plan of hiding on a rock cliff from robots who can’t get me because they don’t know how to walk a tightrope. It appears they can now walk tightropes with the greatest of ease. Then again, I’ll just bring some scissors with me. That’ll teach ‘em.
Check out this video of a humanoid robot walking a tightrope with no problems at all, complete with techno music to accompany the feat. It takes its time doing it, but still it’s doing it way better than most humans. The robot spreads its arms to help maintain balance and slides its feet one at a time.
So I have my supplies ready, including scissors and I have a nice high spot picked out to survive the robot apocalypse. Even if they deploy a high wire, I can cut it with cable cutters. I will probably starve up there after my supplies run out, but they can kiss my cold dead corpse.
Hot on the heels of the announcement of the DARPA Robotics Challenge, it’s looking more and more like Boston Dynamics will be a shoe-in for the competition with its latest bi-pedal robots. A recently released video clip shows DARPA and Boston Dynamics bipedal robots climbing stairs, walking on a treadmill and doing pushups.
DARPA plans on releasing a modified version of these robots as a platform for those participating in the Robotics Challenge but are using the government-funded equipment option. It’s expected that the final version of the platform robot will be a complete humanoid, with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. But even without all of those body parts, the robots shown in this clip are damned impressive.
Those slow-mo sound effects of the climbing ‘bot are going to give me nightmares. Still, it’s pretty amazing to see that we’re on the verge of full-size humanoid robots that can walk, climb and even perform exercises just like us. I also like that these robots are wearing shoes. Now, drop and give me 20, PETMAN!
Robots can be awesome (and more than a little creepy at times). DARPA is about to start up a new Grand Challenge that involves robots that can walk among other things. DARPA’s Dr. Gill Pratt recently revealed that the new challenge will involve builders competing to create a humanoid robot that can accomplish a specific and rather difficult set of tasks.
The contest will apparently focus towards bipedal designs that are able to navigate rough terrain and can be used for helping during industrial disasters. The robot will have to be able to navigate through a very specific set of obstacles. To start, the robot will have to be able to maneuver itself into, and then drive an open-frame vehicle such as a tractor to a building.
Once at the building the robot will have to get off the tractor, walk to a locked door, and unlock the door with the key. Once unlocked, the robot will have to move through the door and down a hall strewn with rubble and climb a ladder at the end of the hall. After reaching the top of the ladder, the robot will have to be able to turn off a simulated leaking pipe by turning a valve nearby and then replace a faulty pump to complete the exercise.
It’s not 100% clear if the robot will need to do all of these tasks back-to-back. Regardless, it all sounds incredibly complicated for robot that is supposed to be able to do all this with very little human interaction, other than a remote operator. DARPA also plans on controlling the communication layer, which may increase the need for robotic autonomy.
The guys at Robotics blog Hizook have much more to say on the topic, and think that Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN (shown in the video above) is a likely candidate platform for the bipedal robot to be used.
Two-legged robots are nothing new, but usually we see them walking, not running around a test lab. A pair of seemingly autonomous legs that can lap you in the park is a scary thought, after all. Such images haven't stopped the Advanced Mechanical Bip...
