Distance Record Broken For a Walking Robot

Narrative Fallacy writes "The Cornell Ranger robot has set an unofficial world distance record by walking nonstop for 45 laps — a little over 9 kilometers — around the Barton Hall running track in an event to to show off the machine's energy efficiency. Unlike other walking robots that use motors to control every movement, the Ranger emulates human walking, using gravity to help swing its legs forward. The Robot alternately swings two outside legs forward and then two inside ones and although the robot has no knees, it has feet that can be tipped up and down, so that the robot pushes off with its toes, then tilts its feet upward to land on the heels as it brings its legs forward. The Robot is steered by a hobby remote control which biases the steering to one side or another by lifting one of the four feet slightly. 'We've just moved into this world of electromechanical devices, and to make something this robust is a big achievement,' said Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics. 'We've learned tons about what it takes to make walking work.'"

Comments

This is very interesting

[slimjim8094]

Lots of people don't realize the inherent instability of walking. It's basically controlled/broken falling. You lift up your foot to move it and shift your center of gravity in front of your stationary foot, and start to fall forward. But your other foot comes down and stops your fall.

Running is actually an easier movement to emulate, interestingly.

This robot, and all other bipedal robots, isn't really useful. It's a horrible way to move - especially if you have wheels. But it's interesting to be able to see the dynamics of how humans walk, which might help us make better prosthetics and the like.

Re:This is very interesting

[PolarBearFire]

Feel free to ignore the second part. The success of bipedalism is evident in humans, four legged animals are obviously faster so human hunters can't compete in that way. But bipedal humans are able to maintain consistent speed for a long periods of time while quadrupeds are only able to maintain their high speeds for short bursts. Essentially humans are able to chase down animals and use their weapons on them. Wheels are great and efficient on flat and level surfaces, but I mountain bike and I can tell you that any incline or rough surfaces increases energy use substantially. Say you're standing on a pothole, on a wheeled vehicle you would need to generate enough force to lift the whole contraption in one go to get out of it. With a bipedal unit, all you need to do is shift your weight to one leg and generate enough force to lift the other and continue.

Re:Quite an achievement, yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends on the purpose of the robot I guess. When I'm old I neither want a Hummer-sized robot nor something flying with Mach 2 to assist me.

Re:9 km?

[Anonymous Coward]

Black people can do all those things, but were still kept slaves for hundreds of years.

45

[denzacar]

Apparently, there is a SLIGHT difference from the "answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything" and "The Ultimate Question".
Probably because they have used robots instead of humans.
But nice to see that there is still some progress.