Giant 'Leap' for Robotics 118
legoburner writes "An AFP article is reporting that Toyota has developed a robot leg that can jump like a human's, an evolution from today's stiff-jointed machines. The leg is a strange-looking standalone device and Toyota claims it will enable robots to jump about, run faster and handle unpaved roads more smoothly."
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I think it's the original redirect. If you go here [google.com], click "Giant Leap for Robotics", it'll take you to the dead link.
So you can take the directions below a few messages.
If you couple it with this one... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If you couple it with this one... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:If you couple it with this one... (Score:4, Interesting)
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That is until Bigfoot came and rescued them.
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Re:If you couple it with this one... (Score:5, Funny)
However, things will not be complete until someone develops a French head-butting robot.
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Re:If you couple it with this one... (Score:4, Funny)
Argentina [youtube.com] has expressly asked for the arm...
You have to admit.. (Score:1)
He didn't punch that Italian bastard in the face, he didn't kick him or even head-butt him in the head - he went for the most elegant solution possible under those circumstances and head-butted him in the chest. He managed to get him on the ground without bloodshed.
Zidane is pure-100%-made in France genius, and you can teach a robot all sorts of hopping tricks, but it would be impossible to get them to behave in such ingenius ways should someone cuss their moth
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I seem to recall MIT building a on legged hopping robot [mit.edu] back in, oh... 1988. Sure, it doesn't look as "human" as toyota's leg, but toyota's doesn't seem any more impressive than MIT's. Maybe I'm missing the point.
Impressive? In the fact that I couldn't build one yes, but 4 centimeters? ehh. I have a wind-up plastic kangaroo that can do back flips, that didn't make slashdot's front page.
ahh yes (Score:3, Funny)
yeah but, (Score:5, Funny)
*ducks*
Re:yeah but, (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:yeah but, (Score:5, Funny)
Get it? Lame? Oh, come on.
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No, but it still a "kick arse" machine.
Conjecture (Score:1)
Re:Conjecture (Score:5, Insightful)
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Well done BAG, extra redundancy points for the redundant bit.
!run... hop (Score:1)
Monty Python foot? (Score:1)
One small Jump (Score:5, Funny)
karma whoring here (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.physorg.com/news77352568.html [physorg.com] (google toyota robot leg)
The one-meter (3.3-foot) leg has a joint on its toe letting it jump as high as four centimeters (1.6 inches) by bending and stretching its toe and another knee-like joint, Japan's top automaker said Wednesday.
"This is a basic technology that can be applied to a two-legged robot in future," said a Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman.
"It was a difficult step for robots," she said. "But it was made possible after making a number of prototypes."
Besides the joy of jumping about, robots will also be able to run faster and to handle unpaved roads more smoothly, the company said.
Toyota, the world's number two automaker which is expected soon to surpass General Motors, has increasingly taken on robot development.
Toyota humanoids welcomed visitors to the company's pavillion at the 2005 World Expo in Japan, jamming in a brass ensemble and performing hip-hop routines.
Run faster? (Score:3, Interesting)
If such a robot exists, can someone please post a link?
Re:Run faster? (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.bdi.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog [bdi.com]
While it doesn't have 2 legged operation it does operate in the "falling forward" way of walking. Check out that video where the guy gives it a swift kick to the side and it just sways and regains it's balance. Looks uncannily lifelike.
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A couple of years back when I was looking around at this sort of thing I found video of a great little robot with a couple of legs that spun them rather than swinging them... it was amazingly fast. But I can't find the link again
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That little bastard looks so happy trotting around like that!
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Most two legged robots are statically stable.
However, most one legged robots are *not* - they're dynamically stable.
So essentially, this is a solution to that problem.
It's not the first one, though. There are tons of pogostick-like one-legged robots.
I'm curious to see what thing Toyota did that makes it worth noting, as the article doesn't mention anything special.
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you can find it HERE [sciencenews.org].
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I have NEVER seen that robot walk like a human. I have NEVER seen that robot do anything that resembles running.
Hot (Score:3, Funny)
robocop + stormtrooper (Score:1)
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Maybe it's just me... (Score:2)
Read it here (Score:4, Informative)
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Giant Leap for Robot Artificial Intelligence (Score:2, Informative)
Robot AI Mind.Forth [sourceforge.net] goes beyond mere jumping and gives a robot the smarts for thinking like a human being.
Artificial life for robots [sourceforge.net] is the joint development of a sound mind in a sound body for jump-for-Joy robots.
The Joint Stewardship of Earth [wikocracy.com] lets robots jump into a position of equality with human beings in running the planet Earth.
Technological Singularity by 2012 [blogcharm.com] will be the Great Leap Forward in the co-evolution of intelligent humans and superintelligent robots.
JavaScript for AI [sourceforge.net] describes h
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Standalone leg (Score:1, Funny)
Where's the... (Score:1)
Where's the mount to put it on my boat?
obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
I for one .. (Score:1)
A great step (hop) forward for robot comedians (Score:1)
Should come with an Aibo... (Score:5, Funny)
Dufflepods (Score:2)
But what is the sound of one leg kicking? (Score:2)
Isn't the top part supposed to be shiny metal?
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Isn't the top part supposed to be shiny metal?
I believe the only requirement is the, um, posterior be shiny metal.
Dog leg (Score:1)
Just need a lamp shade, and... (Score:2)
Cross between... (Score:2)
Looks like they took one of Asimo's legs and stuck it on one of their outboard motors. I suppose you could use this thing to free your boat if it runs a ground.
Wow, huge thigh muscle! (Score:3, Funny)
Oh Noes! (Score:2)
Megaman!
(seriously, anyone else think it looks like this one? [freexbresse.free.fr]
Competition (Score:1, Funny)
Baby got back (Score:2)
Call me and 80's Kid.... (Score:1)
One fatal flaw (Score:1)
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anyone noticed? (Score:1)
Robot leg says (Score:2)
Good Numbers for Toyota (Score:2)
Use in robots? (Score:2, Interesting)
Why this leg is significant (Score:3, Informative)
What you're looking at is a one-legged hopper. Locomotion researchers find it useful to work on one-legged hoppers because the system is simple enough to be analyzed analytically.
The new feature of this leg seems to be that it has three active joints with sufficient power behind them for jumping. Most legged robots, such as the BDI Big Dog [bdi.com], only have two active joints in the leg, although some have a weak or passive ankle. This is enough to position the leg to any point in the working envelope, and it's not obvious what a third joint buys you. ASIMO has an "ankle", but it's used only to align the foot with the ground, not for active running; ASIMO runs flat-footed, not on the ball of the foot. This Toyota machine seems to have both an ankle and a toe joint.
This is a big win, as I described back in 1995 in my "Why Legs have Three Joints" [animats.com] paper. With three joints involved in running and jumping, you gain control over the force vector for ground contact, which allows slip control. Also, the hip joint (which is usually the most powerful) can be used more effectively; the lower joints position the leg so that the hip muscles can do most of the work. For humans, this is subtle, because the ankle-toe distance is small. It's much clearer for horses, where the hind leg has three sections of roughly equal length.
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Just for fun, here's the video from our 1995 simulation work mentioned above. [youtube.com] This shows a passive ankle, though; it's just used to sense the ground angle for slip control. That's the first requirement for dealing with rough terrain. Those "crutch tip" feet that many legged robots use don't give you any info about the ground angle.
All it needs is an umbrella (Score:2)