Hybrid Robot Can Walk ‘N Roll
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Tuesday, 4 of September , 2007 at 3:42 am
By Evan Ackerman
Legs are great for adaptive walking over uneven surfaces, but moving fast on legs takes a lot of skill and coordination. Wheels, on the other hand, are good at moving quickly when it’s generally flat and level, but they don’t handle variable terrain all that well. So the obvious thing would be to combine walking legs and rolling wheels, right? Right. Enter the leg-wheel hybrid walking vehicle “Roller-Walker,” developed by Hirose-Fukushima Robotics Lab. It has four articulated legs with round footpads that are able to pivot 90 degrees and turn into wheels. The wheels are passive (no motors), but the robot has no trouble rolling around in the same manner as you do while wearing rollerblades. It can roll uphill, and even stop itself without brakes. Check out all three clips in the video below; the clips came with some weird background distortion so I put in Yo-Yo Ma playing a cello suite prelude, which goes along quite nicely:
[ Roller-Walker ] VIA [ Robots.net ]
Comments (17)
Category: Research
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Digg
Comment by Rabdsquirlz
Made Tuesday, 4 of September , 2007 at 3:18 pm
Reminds me of the Tachikomas from Ghost in the Shell.
Comment by Jorge Fried
Made Sunday, 9 of September , 2007 at 9:45 pm
Amazing! this robot is control by someone?
Comment by bob
Made Tuesday, 4 of March , 2008 at 1:09 pm
sitgSq hi nice site man thx http://peace.com
Comment by emo hair
Made Saturday, 11 of October , 2008 at 9:41 am
yeah sweet, but can you stand on its back and have it carry you?
Comment by lyric
Made Monday, 13 of October , 2008 at 12:56 pm
I am wondering about the wheel how it rotates without the motor .This technology definitely will be a bench mark for the robot technology
Comment by Jennifer V.
Made Monday, 19 of January , 2009 at 10:46 pm
interesting
Comment by Supply Chain
Made Sunday, 9 of August , 2009 at 12:49 pm
That robots great nice find. Its great to see 2 basic principles combined to make something like that
Comment by Calcium Ascorbate
Made Tuesday, 25 of January , 2011 at 9:57 am
.** I am really thankful to this topic because it really gives up to date information “;:
Comment by computer services chicago
Made Thursday, 9 of June , 2011 at 12:13 pm
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. Thanks for sharing.
Comment by things to do lancaster pa
Made Monday, 21 of November , 2011 at 10:30 am
You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this web site!
Comment by pc repair columbus ohio
Made Tuesday, 22 of November , 2011 at 9:23 am
This actually answered the drawback, thank you!
Comment by computer companies jacksonville
Made Wednesday, 23 of November , 2011 at 1:13 am
Nice post. I learn one thing on completely different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content material from other writers and follow a bit of something from their blog.
Comment by dance schools gold coast
Made Tuesday, 29 of November , 2011 at 8:51 am
Whoa! that post was quite helpful thanks.
Comment by Ada Sathiraboot
Made Wednesday, 30 of November , 2011 at 8:20 am
Waiting for your next post!!
Comment by Obuwie Meskie Mustang
Made Tuesday, 6 of December , 2011 at 3:39 am
Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea
Comment by computer repair el paso texas
Made Wednesday, 14 of December , 2011 at 10:53 am
I was very pleased to find this website. I wanted to thank you for your time for this wonderful post!! I definitely enjoy reading it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
Comment by kit house
Made Monday, 16 of January , 2012 at 11:35 pm
Whoa! that post was quite helpful thanks.
