3 ms·

After seeing the demo video for Ghost Robotics [1], I'd have acquired those guys instead. What BD has done is indeed impressive. But the motors used by GR are

• Symmetry 9y ago
  That's a very nice mechanical design on the legs with a lot of implicit intelligence. But it doesn't look like the robot has much in the way of software smarts onboard and from the sensor package I'd guess that it has a range of stereotyped behaviors being invoked by a human with a controller operating it. And a big part of the reason the Ghost Minotaur looks more responsive is that it's smaller and so moves with smaller time constants and because it's executing movements programatically rather than through a feedback loop.
  • ansible 9y ago
    It is not super clear exactly how far they've taken the kinematics. But the physical system is simple enough that it should be possible to develop a very sophisticated and responsive system. For each leg, you've got two motors per leg, and each motor just has two variables: angle and torque. Then you just have a 6-axis IMU for the chassis itself. All that tells you everything you need to know about the body and leg position, and the terrain you're standing on. I'd say that's way easier than a typical legged robot. Consequently, it should be easier and cheaper to implement a given level of capability.