Progress in robotic technology: “Achires” runs like a man – N24

Current robots have been around a long time, but so far the movements looked rather awkward. Now researchers

have developed a specimen that mimics human locomotion exactly.

Japanese researchers have developed a bipedal robot that can walk like a man almost as fast. Although the legs of “Achires” (Actively Coordinated High-speed image-processing Running Experiment System) are only 14 inches long. But it lays out a pace of 4.2 miles per hour, making it as fast as a brisk walker. “He can also do a somersault forward,” said Professor Masatoshi Ishikawa of Tokyo University.

Conventional two-legged robots like Honda’s “Asimo” can walk, but not run, because only her legs to move so as not to lose the balance. In “Achires”, however, a technology known makes “Visual Feedback” that the robot moves exactly like a human being and not fall over.

This image processing system enables the robot as soon as he when Moving advances the hip and so initially out of balance, at the right moment the other leg forward too fast. While the robot is running, a built in camera filming his movements with 600 frames per second and sends signals to the drive mechanisms of the numerous joints. This switch is always the decisive moment on and off.

The development should be employed in the industry, explained Ishikawa. In a factory would have been things like cans randomly fall onto conveyor belts, are rated by people. This could be avoided with the new robot technology and thus increased the efficiency of production processes.