Cheetah Bot!

rynow (71)in #technology • 8 years ago (edited)

Cheetah Bot

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This post is not about the feared CHEETAH BOT of steemit. This is about another Cheetah Robot.

Years ago, I would say about 10 years ago, as a single father I used to take my kids to Magic Company, a place where people could play various games. My son used to like a Star Wars Arcade Game. In this game there was various robots, in which soldiers rode. One of these robots were the AT-AT, as pictured below

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One might think why would technologically advanced people use 4 legged robots to ride in rather than vehicles with wheels as we know it today. I will come back to this latter.

Back to the Cheetah Robot

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Although the MIT cheetah robot does not look much like a cheetah, it is the first 4 legged robot, that can run on its own, unaided, see obstacles that are randomly placed in front of it and jump over it at a speed of 8 km/h. The real cheetah can run a maximum speed of approximately 110 km/h, the cheetah robot can achieve a maximum speed of 48 km/h. In lab tests the cheetah jumped over obstacles of approximately 46 cm, almost half a meter high! Not bad for a robot!!

The cheetah uses reflections from a laser to see. These reflections are used to map the terrain. The cheetah's path is then planned by an algorithm. Both these systems are built into the cheetah, giving the cheetah control of itself. Once the cheetah has seen an obstacle in its path it calculates from where it should jump and then adjusts its approach to get to the pre-calculated position from which it should jump. The cheetah then calculates the power needed to clear the obstacle, and then execute the jump perfectly - amazing!

A robot such as the cheetah that does not have wheels could be used for various applications. Military applications such as recon over difficult terrain would be possible. This robot can also eliminate the need for wheels, think AT-AT's as mentioned in the beginning. If you don't need wheels, would their then be a need for roads as we know it today? Think of the possibilities for people who are wheel chair bound, if we can get a stable two legged bot, think Star Wars AT-ST If we then couple these legs to the persons brain (Which has been done with a hand already) the person can walk on his/her own, not needing a wheel chair!

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