Robots Walk with Close to Human Efficiency

Robots Walk with Close to Human Efficiency
Bipedal robots that work using the same dynamics as toys of yesteryear are more apt at imitating human steps than their more sophisticated electronic counterparts, researchers said.

Footage of three robots was shown at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference here in Washington. The robots shown operate by using force of gravity, their legs acting like a double pendulum.

Small electric motors fed by an extremely low voltage battery act as joints, allowing the robots to control their steps and adapt to irregularities in the terrain.

"We can let the mechanics take care of a lot of the motion as opposed to motors," said Andy Ruina, of New York's Cornell University, creator of one of the robots.

"The concept is simple, the legs act like sticks attached to hinges and swing back and forth with a pendulum motion" -- a concept used for more than 100 years in design toys that walk down a slope without propulsion.

Another biped designed by Martijn Wisse of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has a pneumatic system that simulates the way leg muscles work.

The third robot, based on the same principle, was presented by researcher Russ Tedrake of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.