4 ms·

Two-legged robot mimics human balance while running and jumping

60 points by jpm_sd 7y ago

Pfhreak 7y ago
If you made a robot big enough to carry the human (and the human sensing/feedback machinery), you'd basically have Battletech, right?
- calibas 7y ago
  Or instead of giant death robots, you could have remote-controlled first responders. They could be dispatched quickly by drone and not put a human at risk. Personally, I'm most excited about the possibility of robot backup dancers.
  - krapp 7y ago
    >Personally, I'm most excited about the possibility of robot backup dancers. I think Chuck-E-Cheese already tried that. Results were... not promising.
  - Pfhreak 7y ago
    Totally agree. Much rather see giant robots fitted with construction, first responder, tree planting, wildfire fighting, etc. equipment. I really love how the approach to solving the problem of 'how do we make it walk like a human' was to avoid solving the problem entirely and just use a human as realtime reference.
  - PhasmaFelis 7y ago
    I love fictional giant deathbots. In reality, I'd be happier with giant robot gladiator fights.
    - ralusek 7y ago
      The important thing is that it's not taking jobs.
  - stormbrew 7y ago
    Unfortunately we probably don't get to choose and I'm pretty sure we all know which of these is more likely to get funded (well, maybe not the giant part though).
clairity 7y ago
while the headline is technically correctly phrased, it buries the lede on the interesting bit here: the bi-directional feedback mechanism. robots that walk/run/jump like humans have existed for decades, but a bipedal robot that literally mimics the movements of a particular human, and sends force feedback to that human for real-time control is novel. that’s the neat part.
- jcims 7y ago
  I subscribe to a small channel on YouTube and the channel owner had a very impressive demo of low latency bi-directional teleoperation. He's got some Cheetah vids so I'm guessing he at least contributed some code here if not control/hardware. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQGPGG-vuQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQGPGG-vuQ I feel creepy posting this for some reason but if you have even an inkling of the complexity it's a crazy demo that I had to share lol.
  - snops 7y ago
    That channel owner, Ben Katz did the mechanical hardware, motor control PCB + firmware for the MIT Mini Cheetah as part of his PhD, here is his blog post on it[1], which links to a full technical report. The latest firmware is here [2] [1] http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.com/2019/03/hello-there-mini-cheetah.html http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.com/2019/03/hello-there... [2] https://os.mbed.com/users/benkatz/code/Hobbyking_Cheetah_Compact_DRV8323/rev/6cd89bd6fcaa/ https://os.mbed.com/users/benkatz/code/Hobbyking_Cheetah_Com...
    - jcims 7y ago
      Ah! That links to the thesis folks were talking about in the comments. Thank you!!! Also, geez. That's a lot of (very impressive) work.
plq 7y ago
I like how they treat the robots and the human on equal terms in the photo label :) No need for a second renaissance anyway.

60 points by jpm_sd 7y ago

If you made a robot big enough to carry the human (and the human sensing/feedback machinery), you'd basically have Battletech, right?

calibas 7y ago
Or instead of giant death robots, you could have remote-controlled first responders. They could be dispatched quickly by drone and not put a human at risk. Personally, I'm most excited about the possibility of robot backup dancers.
- krapp 7y ago
  >Personally, I'm most excited about the possibility of robot backup dancers. I think Chuck-E-Cheese already tried that. Results were... not promising.
- Pfhreak 7y ago
  Totally agree. Much rather see giant robots fitted with construction, first responder, tree planting, wildfire fighting, etc. equipment. I really love how the approach to solving the problem of 'how do we make it walk like a human' was to avoid solving the problem entirely and just use a human as realtime reference.
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago
  I love fictional giant deathbots. In reality, I'd be happier with giant robot gladiator fights.
  - ralusek 7y ago
    The important thing is that it's not taking jobs.
- stormbrew 7y ago
  Unfortunately we probably don't get to choose and I'm pretty sure we all know which of these is more likely to get funded (well, maybe not the giant part though).

clairity 7y ago

while the headline is technically correctly phrased, it buries the lede on the interesting bit here: the bi-directional feedback mechanism. robots that walk/run/jump like humans have existed for decades, but a bipedal robot that literally mimics the movements of a particular human, and sends force feedback to that human for real-time control is novel. that’s the neat part.

jcims 7y ago
I subscribe to a small channel on YouTube and the channel owner had a very impressive demo of low latency bi-directional teleoperation. He's got some Cheetah vids so I'm guessing he at least contributed some code here if not control/hardware. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQGPGG-vuQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnQGPGG-vuQ I feel creepy posting this for some reason but if you have even an inkling of the complexity it's a crazy demo that I had to share lol.
- snops 7y ago
  That channel owner, Ben Katz did the mechanical hardware, motor control PCB + firmware for the MIT Mini Cheetah as part of his PhD, here is his blog post on it[1], which links to a full technical report. The latest firmware is here [2] [1] http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.com/2019/03/hello-there-mini-cheetah.html http://build-its-inprogress.blogspot.com/2019/03/hello-there... [2] https://os.mbed.com/users/benkatz/code/Hobbyking_Cheetah_Compact_DRV8323/rev/6cd89bd6fcaa/ https://os.mbed.com/users/benkatz/code/Hobbyking_Cheetah_Com...
  - jcims 7y ago
    Ah! That links to the thesis folks were talking about in the comments. Thank you!!! Also, geez. That's a lot of (very impressive) work.

plq 7y ago

I like how they treat the robots and the human on equal terms in the photo label :) No need for a second renaissance anyway.