Making a bipedal robot is hard.
You have to make sure maintain exquisite balance at all times and, even with the amazing things Atlas can do, there is still a chance that your crazy robot will fall over and bop its electronic head.
But what if that head is a quadcopterUniversity of Tokyo have done just that with their wild Aerial-Biped.
The robot isn''t completely bipedal but it designed instead to act like a bipedal robot without the tricky issue of being truly bipedal.
Think of the these legs as more a sort of fun bit of puppetry that mimics walking but doesn''t really walk.The goal is to develop a robot that has the ability to display the appearance of bipedal walking with dynamic mobility, and to provide a new visual experience.
The robot enables walking motion with very slender legs like those of a flamingo without impairing dynamic mobility.
This approach enables casual users to choreograph biped robot walking without expertise.
In addition, it is much cheaper compared to a conventional bipedal walking robot,& the team told IEEE.The robot is similar to the bizarre-looking Ballu, a blimp robot with a floating head and spindly legs.
The new robot learned how to walk convincingly through machine learning, a feat that gives it a realistic gait even though it is really an aerial system.
It definitely a clever little project and could be interesting at a theme park or in an environment where a massive bipedal robot falling over on someone might be discouraged.