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On the shift from hydraulic to electric: for years Marc Raibert and others at Boston Dynamics expressed doubts that a non-hydraulic humanoid could be made to pe
by Isamu 2y ago
On the shift from hydraulic to electric: for years Marc Raibert and others at Boston Dynamics expressed doubts that a non-hydraulic humanoid could be made to perform as well in that package.
Because of actuator density- a humanoid has a high number of actuators. Also power density, and they did a lot of work in molding the hydraulic actuators directly into the arms and legs to make them compact. The bulk is all in the backpack pumps, power pack, etc.
So this move to all-electric represents real growth in Boston Dynamics being able to make compact motors that meet their needs of performance.
I am betting this new robot is less capable of the explosive dynamics of the old one. I am not expecting dance performances and backflips from this one right away. But I am expecting them to work toward that kind of performance.
- londons_explore 2y agoHydraulics have a massive benefit that the actual actuators have amazing power density - and the actual bulky hydraulic pump and valves can be far away. Also, the pump can be shared with many actuators, making the whole system smaller and lighter when you have 50 actuators and only need to use 5 of them at full power at a time. Electrics win for energy efficiency and no-leaky-fluid, and also are improving pretty quick.
- Animats 2y ago> On the shift from hydraulic to electric: for years Marc Raibert and others at Boston Dynamics expressed doubts that a non-hydraulic humanoid could be made to perform as well in that package. Then Schaft won the DARPA Robotic Challenge in 2013 with their all-electric humanoid robot with liquid-cooled motors. They beat out Boston Dynamics' Atlas. Then Google bought Schaft. Google got bored with robotics, couldn't find a buyer for them, and Schaft was shut down, along with several other Google robotics acquisitions. [1] https://www.darpa.mil/program/darpa-robotics-challenge https://www.darpa.mil/program/darpa-robotics-challenge