Controlled by an algorithm, it even has stealth.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: The impression about robots as slow paced metallic bodies, moving according to given instructions is soon going to change. MIT researchers have decided to reengineer the stereotyped robot into a beast, more like a quick paced cheetah.
The design of the cheetah robot is quite similar to a real cheetah on the run. All four legs are in a slightly crouched shape, and the front and back legs move in tandem giving maximum speed for the robot.
In the initial few seconds, the robotic cheetah can only reach a speed of 16 Km/h, where as its wild counterpart can reach 94 Km/h in matter of seconds. But this four legged metallic beast has the capability of reaching a maximum speed of 48 Km/h in less than a minute, surpassing Usain Bolt whose maximum speed is a world record 44.72 Km/h.
According to MIT News, the 70 pound robot cheetah is controlled using an algorithm, which calculates the amount of pressure needed for the legs during each impact with the ground. As the algorithm controls the force of the robotic cheetah the researchers can speed up its movement in phases.
Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, said “Many sprinters, like Usain Bolt, don’t cycle their legs really fast. They actually increase their stride length by pushing downward harder and increasing their ground force, so they can fly more while keeping the same frequency.”
As the force based movement gives more control to the cheetah, it can accelerate even in difficult terrains and jump obstacles, which are not more than 30 cm tall.
One of the more cheetah like abilities of the robot is its stealth. The four legs of the cheetah robot is pushed forward by battery powered electric motors reducing sound where as other robots use gasoline engines for movement.
Kim added “Our robot can be [as] silent and as efficient as animals. The only things you hear are the feet hitting the ground. This is kind of a new paradigm where we’re controlling force in a highly dynamic situation. Any legged robot should be able to do this in the future.”
Kim and his colleagues in MIT will present the details about the bounding algorithm during the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Chicago.
3 Comments
why all the slow motion footage? show us the speed! I want to see the “claimed” speed of 48/km/h.
I didn’t break out the radar or anything, but something tells me that was nobody’s “48 Km/h” Would have actually liked to have seen it doing that speed if it is capable.
because one thing the world needed was a robotic cheetah