New robots have got quite a kick. They are better able to copy the foot movements and walking styles seen in humans.
The Humanoid Robotics Institute at Waseda University in Japan has given a humanoid robot, WABIAN-2R, the ability to do just that. The robot is four-feet-10-inches tall, weighs 141 pounds and has 41 degrees of freedom.
“What sets it apart from many other bipeds is its flexible pelvis, which gives it the ability to walk with stretched knees,” according to Spectrum IEEE.
Now, its feet have a curved arch and toes which are flexible, according to Zee News. Also, the lower legs of the WABIAN robot has the step time of 0.6 seconds, 12-degree foot rotation and 90-mm step width – similar to those found with humans. Also, the center of mass lateral movement is 34 mm.
Prof. Atsuo Takanishi explained the study last month at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Germany.
“In experiments where it walked in place…not only was it able to match the human step time of 0.6 seconds, it also matched the required 12-degree foot rotation and 90mm step width,” Spectrum IEEE said. “The researchers have also successfully reduced its center of mass lateral movement from 50 mm down to 34 mm (just 4 mm shy of an actual human).”
Future research relates to forward walking.
Last year, researchers from the University of Arizona wrote in the Journal of Neural Engineering about a new type of legs for robots “that mimic the neuromuscular architecture of human walking,” RobotXworld reported. “They created a pair of robot legs that are starting to ‘think’ about walking the same way people do. Using human legs as a model, the scientists put sensors at the bottoms of the robot legs' feet that tell them whether they are touching the ground. The scientists also gave internal position sensors to each of the motors that pull on the ‘muscles’ in the legs.”
