Segway-Based Robot Opens Doors

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this short article, Technology Review tells us that Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have built a new robot, named Cardea, which is able to push open doors and has the bottom half of a Segway scooter. Cardea will be five feet tall with a torso, three arms, a variety of sensors, and a human-like head with expressive features and vision, and mounted on a Segway base. More details and references are contained in this review which also includes several pictures. For even more details, go to the Cardea Project homepage."

Comments

Balance?

[NatePWIII]

Just a dumb question, but if I remember correctly the regular segway works by having the operator balance it somewhat like a bicycle, hence the small learning curve to operate the Segway.

So my question is, does this robot have some sort of balancing algorithm programmed into it so it doesn't fall flat on its face?

Re:Battery life?

[Blangopolis]

This robot's design is actually pretty cool. If you go to this site you will see a bunch of really cool pictures, and even a video about the Cardea. It has three arms, which may seem awkward at first, but actually it is a pretty ingenius design. The "extra" arm isn't really its own arm, it is more of an extension of the left arm that allows the Cardea to open doors and hold objects better.