Technology Improvement Of Future Walking Robots

A study by engineers at Oregon State University suggests that they have achieved the most realistic robotic implementation of human walking dynamics that has ever been done, which may ultimately allow human-like versatility and performance.

The system is based on a concept called “spring-mass” walking that was theorised less than a decade ago.

Technologies evolved from intense studies of both human and animal walking and running. In order to learn how animals achieve a fluidity of motion with a high degree of energy efficiency, researchers examine animals performing these behaviors. Animals, in particular, combine a sensory input from nerves, vision, muscles and tendons to create locomotion that researchers have now translated into a working robotic system.

"Other robotic approaches may have legs and motion, but do not really capture the underlying physics."

The OSU researchers have conducted studies with their ATRIAS robot model, incorporating the spring-mass theory, which have proved that it is three times more energy-efficient than any other human-sized bipedal robot when it employs this type of walking.

ATRIAS, is a human-sized robot created at OSU that has six electric motors powered by a lithium polymer battery about the size of a half-gallon of milk, which is substantially smaller than the power packs of some other mobile robots. It can take impacts and retain its balance and even walk over rough and bumpy terrain.

"We have basically demonstrated the fundamental science of how humans walk," said one of the researchers Jonathan Hurst, professor Oregon State University

It provides the ability to blindly react to rough terrain, maintain balance, retain an efficiency of motion and essentially walk like humans do.

According to Hurst, the technology displays what the future holds.When the method is further tweaked and perfected, walking and running robots could even work in the armed forces or as fire fighters.

"Robots are already used for gait training, and we see the first commercial exoskeletons on the market," said Daniel Renjewski, the lead author of the new study. "However, only now do we have an idea how human-like walking works in a robot. This enables us to build an entirely new class of wearable robots and prostheses that could allow the user to regain a natural walking gait."

It will be some time before legged robots are truly integrated into our daily lives, but now researchers know it is possible. He even speculates legged robots could become as big as the automotive industry.

See Also:
http://mime.oregonstate.edu/research/drl/
jonathan.hurst@oregonstate.edu
daniel.renjewski@tum.de