Agility Robotics Raises $8M for Commercial Bipedal Robots
spectrum.ieee.org
spectrum.ieee.org
It's so cool to see how far this project has come.
for example, the knees don't seem to passively lock like ours, which means it will have to use energy to just stand up. and lacking good dynamics is probably why we don't see it run (the control problem gets way harder).
(my masters was in locomotion biomechanics)
the cool thing about hexapods is that walking is basically using two sets of tripods in alternating fashion (e.g., cockroaches do this at slow speeds). as speed increases, they remove legs that touch the ground, going from hexapod, to quadruped, to biped at the highest speeds.
What I've always thought is how people will perceive walking around robots. Scenes from Star Wars comes to mind. Will robots need their own service corridors in order to not scare people?
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS18SeuMqtA
EDIT: Ah, probably because I was listening without sound. The music makes it less menacing (clever them).
[edit] Adding foley of menacing clanking sounds on each step and robotic whirs is a bonus.
1) Getting stuck. I can imagine multiple situations where the environment changing leads to "stuck" situations.
2) Need to be aware of surroundings on par with human beings. No stepping on dogs or small children when walking up your front steps to drop off the mail.
3) human interaction: the "last 100 feet" is usually "my front porch and lawn". Ownership, control, and navigating human interactions are real issues there.