Four-legged robot learned to skate
He developed a method of movement.
Swiss engineers have taught a four-legged robot Skaterbot to go ice skating. He independently learns required movements and can adapt to fixed on his feet adaptations, whether it be wheels or skates. The robot was presented at the world economic forum in Davos.
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Often, the engineers that create mobile robots, we have to choose between designs of two types: walking chassis or wheeled (and tracked) robots. Each of these designs has several advantages. For example, the presence of several multi-segment foot allows you to overcome uneven terrain, such as rocks, and the wheels in turn increase the speed of movement on flat surfaces.
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Several engineering teams working to create a hybrid of walkers at the ends of the legs which has wheels. It is expected that this design allows to combine into a single robot the advantages of both designs. In 2018, a group of engineers under the guidance of Steliana of Koros (Stelian Coros) from ETH Zurich presented a software that allows semi-automatically create walking robots, modify their structure and create an optimal set of moves to maximize the movement.
Due to the fact that the program develops optimal movement for a given structure of the robot and its trajectory, the engineers managed to create robots of various designs and means of transport, including walking robots with active and passive wheels at the ends of the legs. Recently, the engineers decided to use the feature to teach the robot to move around in the new conditions, using new type of movement.
Instead of wheels the developers have secured at the ends of the legs of the robot blades. After training, the robot is able to adapt to new conditions and developed a gait where his feet are constantly turning right and left, creating a wave-like motion.
Thanks to them, the robot can move forward and even turn in the right direction.
Recently moving across the ice of the robot shown by the company Pliant Energy Systems. It consists of a housing, the sides of which are flexible fins. Because the fins are attached to the housing via the plurality of actuators, the robot can create thanks to them, undulating movements resembling those used for the movement of the rays.
In addition, previously we talked about the other four-legged hybrid robots with wheels on the ends of the legs. For example, one of them created another group of engineers from the ETH Zurich. Also four-legged robot on wheels develops a team of European engineers from the project Centauro. One of its features is that in addition to the four legs with wheels it has two arms that can be managed by the operator of using gestures with their hands.