Caltech researchers have constructed a bipedal robot capable of both walking and flying. According to the crew, their newest innovation is not only swift and responsive, but it can also perform intricate maneuvers.
Leonardo, a walking and flying robot, can walk on a slackline, bounce about, and even ride a skateboard if properly programmed.
The robot’s multi-joint legs and propeller-based thrusters were designed and built by the Caltech Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), according to the researchers.
The team was inspired by nature and the fact that birds can fly and negotiate telephone connections, according to Bren Professor Soon-Jo Chung of Aerospace and Control and Dynamical Systems.
According to Chung, the study’s corresponding author, as birds transition from walking to flying, they demonstrate “complicated yet exciting behavior,” which the researchers aimed to understand and learn from.
Leonardo’s use of synchronized distributed propeller-based thrusters and leg joints is analogous to a person in a jet suit managing their legs and feet while landing and taking off, according to Chung. “From a dynamics and control standpoint, we were interested in the interface between walking and flying.”
They say that bipedal robots can maneuver on tough terrain in the same way that humans do while jogging, jumping, or climbing stairs. On rocky terrain, these machines, on the other hand, struggle. Leonardo’s flying ability comes in handy in this case, despite the fact that it cannot walk or leap on the ground.
Leonardo, the robot of a postdoctoral researcher, can negotiate more difficult settings than normal robots since it alternates between two modes of mobility. Leonardo, according to Kim, co-lead author of the paper, intends to combine the two separate realms of aerial and bipedal mobility that are not commonly linked in existing robotic systems.
There are certain limitations as well. Leonardo not only consumes a lot of energy while flying, but it also has a limited cargo capacity.
This Bipedal Robot Skateboards And Slacklines With Propeller-Powered Arms.
When evaluating the coolness of a robot, I employ a straightforward but predictable heuristic: can I envision this machine in the Metal Gear Solid series?
As a bipedal robot with propeller arms named LEONARDO, I know it’s in MGSV. Because of its bubblehead and eerily precise motions, this robot intrigues me as a tool for infiltrating mercenary strongholds.
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