Walking robot HECTOR developed to study animal movements
April 20th, 2011 - 6:48 pm ICT by ANIWashington, April 20 (ANI): A six-legged robot HECTOR (Hexapod Cognitive autonomously Operating Robot), designed by researchers at the University of Bielefeld’s Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology, has been built to study the elegant movements of animals.
HECTOR uses a new kind of bioinspired, elastic joint drive that mimics muscle movement. Each drive is equipped with sensors, electronic controls, a dedicated processor and a sensorized elastic coupling all controlled by biologically inspired algorithms.
These allow HECTOR to react by yielding during collisions or interactions with people, reports the Discovery News.
HECTORS exoskeleton is made of a light, yet durable, carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) and only accounts for only 13 percent of the robot’s 26.45-pound body weight.
Yet the 3.28 ft robot is still capable of carrying load over twice its body weight. A test showed it could carry a 66-pound load with less than one tenth inch of deformation.
The robot’s exchangeable lid body design allows special sensor equipment to be easily switched and installed for different studies. For example, an omnidirectional camera for near- and long-range sensing can be easily swapped for a tactile antenna, more suitable for exploring immediate surroundings.
HECTOR’s control program runs on the same distributed intelligence principle found in insect brains responding to stimuli. A specially developed interface and bus concept processes sensory information and links the robot’s movement to the control system. (ANI)
- Scientists develop sensitive skin for robots - Jun 30, 2011
- Robot arm boosts brain-controlled device's performance - Dec 15, 2010
- Now, an exoskeleton that helps the paralysed walk again - Oct 08, 2010
- Warm-up enhances body's perfromance - Apr 24, 2012
- Warm-up enhances body's perfromance - Apr 24, 2012
- 'Alien' bionic arm enables humans to lift more than 90 kg with ease - Nov 02, 2009
- Walking patterns of spiders, crabs inspire robot locomotion - Mar 27, 2011
- Cockroach 'to fine-tune robots of the future' - Feb 08, 2011
- A robot which moves on a ball - Jan 25, 2012
- Retrofitting buildings with carbon fiber may protect it from terrorist attack - Apr 15, 2011
- Caterpillars inspiring Next Gen robots - Apr 27, 2011
- Making human-like robots for easier interaction with people - Mar 08, 2011
- Table tennis playing robots debut in China - Oct 11, 2011
- A vacuum cleaner that talks as it cleans - May 09, 2012
- Harmful gut bug inspires robotics design - Aug 04, 2011
Tags: animal movements, carbon fiber, center of excellence, collisions, coupling, deformation, discovery news, exoskeleton, hector, hexapod, insect, interaction technology, muscle movement, pound body, pound load, s center, sensor equipment, six legged robot, stimuli, walking robot