HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video)
We’ve seen some rather nightmare-inducing robots inspired by insects, but, once again, the folks at Germany’s Bielefeld University have managed to turn something inherently creepy into a rather lighthearted affair. HECTOR, or hexapod cognitive autonomously operating robot, was designed to help its creators understand how exactly real animals manage to move so gracefully. Physically speaking, HECTOR sports six legs, with 18 joints in total, that protrude from an exoskeleton made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Its legs are given a rather life-like range of motion provided by a special set of “elastic joint drives” and a series of “biologically inspired” algorithms, and its exoskeleton can carry a load weighing 30 kilograms — the robot itself weighs a mere 12 kilograms. What’s more, HECTOR’s built to learn from its experiences. Okay, so a three foot robotic insect that can carry nearly three times its weight does sound kind of creepy in retrospect, but HECTOR really does have some smooth moves. You can see for yourself in the video after the break.
Continue reading HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video)
HECTOR insect-inspired hexapod walking robot is a smooth operator (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: April 19th, 2011
at 7:17am by Christopher Trout
Topics: Automaton, BielefeldUniversity, HexapodCognitiveAutonomouslyOperatingRobot, InsectRobot, WalkingRobot, bielefeld, german, germany, hector, hexapod, hexapod cognitive autonomously operating robot, insect, insect robot, nature, robot, video, walking, walking robot
Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too
Two years ago, Iranian students built Sorena, a white humanoid machine that reportedly wheeled about via remote control. For 2010, robots experts at Tehran University decided to update the creature — and apparently, channel a little bit of Asimo. Surena 2 was unveiled by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week, its purpose unknown. Named after a famous Persian warrior, the robot stands 4.7 feet tall, and can walk about slowly carrying its own weight of 99 pounds. Gulf News reports the robot will get vision and speech modules later on down the road. If it ends up conducting orchestras or performing show tunes, we’ll be sure to keep you informed.
Iran’s got a walking humanoid robot, too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: July 5th, 2010
at 7:06am by Sean Hollister
Topics: Asimo, HumanoidRobot, HumanoidRobots, Robotics, Tehran, Tehran University, TehranUniversity, WalkingRobot, humanoid, humanoid robot, humanoid robots, iran, robot, walking robot
