Engineering news
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, first unveiled the Salto in 2016. Standing for saltatorial locomotion on terrain obstacles, the robot could jump and rebound off a wall and leap more than three-times its height.
Now, a new video has shown the Salto venturing outside of the laboratory for the first time and showing off new tricks such as bouncing in place, navigating an obstacle course and following a moving target. The machine is radio-controlled, but was previously reliant on motion capture cameras to tell it which angles to jump.
The Salto now has an awareness of its body thanks to technology equipped by Berkeley roboticist Justin Yim. The robot ‘knows’ the angle it is pointing and the bend of its leg, making calculations that were previously handled on an external computer.
The robot’s single, powerful leg is modelled on those of the galago, or Senegalese bush baby, which stores energy in muscles and tendons to make multiple jumps in several seconds. By linking jumps together, the Salto can jump on uneven surfaces and over obstacles, reaching areas that might be otherwise impossible for ground-based machines.
“Unlike a grasshopper or cricket that winds up and gives one jump, we're looking at a mechanism where it can jump, jump, jump, jump,” said electrical engineer Ronald Fearing, whose work explores how animal movement can help create more agile robots. “This allows our robot to jump from location to location, which then gives it the ability to temporarily land on surfaces that we might not be able to perch on.”
The researchers hope the Salto will propel the development of small, nimble robots that could leap through rubble to aid search-and-rescue and military missions.
“Small robots are really great for a lot of things, like running around in places where larger robots or humans can't fit,” said Yim. “For example, in a disaster scenario, where people might be trapped under rubble, robots might be really useful at finding the people in a way that is not dangerous to rescuers and might even be faster than rescuers could have done unaided.”
The researchers described the robot’s new abilities last week at the 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Montreal.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.