In what could be described as a small step for a robot, one giant leap for robot kind, a trio of humanoid machines were introduced Thursday, each with the ability to walk into a human being equally.
Each robot has a surprisingly human-like bipedal walking and appearance. Arms swing in the balance. Push off your ankles. Add eyeballs out.
One of the robots from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is named for its modest stature Pregnancy and side to side wobble of its passage. Denise, a robot created by researchers at the University of Delft in the Netherlands, is almost as tall as the average woman.
Smart as a toddler
The child is an intelligent group. While the others are based on the excellent mechanical design, has a brain with less power Teens that of an ant, but is able to learn a new field, which enables the robot to teach foot in less than 20 minutes, or about 600 steps, "said scientists.
The advances could change the way humanoid robots are built, and opened doors to new types of robotic prostheses - tips for people who have lost them. The robot is also expected to shed light on the biomechanics of the human foot.
"These innovations are a platform on which to build further," said Michael Foster, an engineer from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which oversaw the three projects. "This is the basis of what we see in robot control in the future."
The robots were presented today at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Also discussed at the February 18 issue of the journal Science.
More than a toy
Draws engineers "passive-dynamic" toys dating from 1800, and could walk down with the help of gravity. Little progress has been made to arrive since the robots to walk like people.
To navigate the new machines at the field level using as little energy as half the power of a standard compact fluorescent bulb. The Cornell robot consumes an amount of energy to walk which is comparable to a human walk of equal weight.
Toy influence walking from side to side to get your feet off the ground. Humans and to minimize body roll bending their knees to gather at his feet. The Cornell and Delft robots employ this approach.
"Other robots, no matter how good they are in control, the work you are first, then the proposals based on this principle," the Cornell researcher, Andy Ruina. "The robots we have here are based on the fall, and falling catch you again."
Cornell robot equals human efficiency, since it only uses the energy to pull off, and then gravity causes the foot down, while other robots needlessly use energy to carry out all aspects of their effort.
"The team from Cornell passive mechanism helps greatly reduce the energy needed," said Junku Yuh, NSF expert on intelligent systems. "His work is very innovative."
Still not perfect
The three robots swing your arms in line with the leg for balance. In most ways, however, are not as versatile as other automatons. Honda's Asimo, for example, you can walk back and climb stairs. Asimo, but requires at least 10 times more power to achieve such feats.
"The real solution lies somewhere between the two," said Steven Collins, a researcher at the University of Michigan who worked on the Cornell robot. "A robot could use passive dynamics for level or downhill motion, then the engines for large high-energy needs such as stair climbing, running or jumping."
Collins is applying lessons learned in an effort to develop better prosthetic devices for the feet of humans.
"We can not know how the foot should work until they can understand their role in the foot," he said.
The squat Toddler robot gains foot clearance only lean sideways, a decidedly non-humans. Pregnancy, but is notable for its ability to learn new ground and adapt their approach, as would a person.
"On a good day, walking on almost any surface and adjust its gait," said MIT postdoctoral researcher Russ Tedrake. "We believe it is a principle that's going to scale [up] a lot of new robots to walk."
Each robot has a surprisingly human-like bipedal walking and appearance. Arms swing in the balance. Push off your ankles. Add eyeballs out.
One of the robots from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is named for its modest stature Pregnancy and side to side wobble of its passage. Denise, a robot created by researchers at the University of Delft in the Netherlands, is almost as tall as the average woman.
Smart as a toddler
The child is an intelligent group. While the others are based on the excellent mechanical design, has a brain with less power Teens that of an ant, but is able to learn a new field, which enables the robot to teach foot in less than 20 minutes, or about 600 steps, "said scientists.
The advances could change the way humanoid robots are built, and opened doors to new types of robotic prostheses - tips for people who have lost them. The robot is also expected to shed light on the biomechanics of the human foot.
"These innovations are a platform on which to build further," said Michael Foster, an engineer from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which oversaw the three projects. "This is the basis of what we see in robot control in the future."
The robots were presented today at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Also discussed at the February 18 issue of the journal Science.
More than a toy
Draws engineers "passive-dynamic" toys dating from 1800, and could walk down with the help of gravity. Little progress has been made to arrive since the robots to walk like people.
To navigate the new machines at the field level using as little energy as half the power of a standard compact fluorescent bulb. The Cornell robot consumes an amount of energy to walk which is comparable to a human walk of equal weight.
Toy influence walking from side to side to get your feet off the ground. Humans and to minimize body roll bending their knees to gather at his feet. The Cornell and Delft robots employ this approach.
"Other robots, no matter how good they are in control, the work you are first, then the proposals based on this principle," the Cornell researcher, Andy Ruina. "The robots we have here are based on the fall, and falling catch you again."
Cornell robot equals human efficiency, since it only uses the energy to pull off, and then gravity causes the foot down, while other robots needlessly use energy to carry out all aspects of their effort.
"The team from Cornell passive mechanism helps greatly reduce the energy needed," said Junku Yuh, NSF expert on intelligent systems. "His work is very innovative."
Still not perfect
The three robots swing your arms in line with the leg for balance. In most ways, however, are not as versatile as other automatons. Honda's Asimo, for example, you can walk back and climb stairs. Asimo, but requires at least 10 times more power to achieve such feats.
"The real solution lies somewhere between the two," said Steven Collins, a researcher at the University of Michigan who worked on the Cornell robot. "A robot could use passive dynamics for level or downhill motion, then the engines for large high-energy needs such as stair climbing, running or jumping."
Collins is applying lessons learned in an effort to develop better prosthetic devices for the feet of humans.
"We can not know how the foot should work until they can understand their role in the foot," he said.
The squat Toddler robot gains foot clearance only lean sideways, a decidedly non-humans. Pregnancy, but is notable for its ability to learn new ground and adapt their approach, as would a person.
"On a good day, walking on almost any surface and adjust its gait," said MIT postdoctoral researcher Russ Tedrake. "We believe it is a principle that's going to scale [up] a lot of new robots to walk."
