MIT Cheetah Robot Bounds Untethered Across Grass
Posted on September 15, 2014
MIT has unleashed its robotic cheetah. The robotic cheetah, named MIT Cheetah 2, can be seen running and leaping on a grassy surface in a newly released video. The MIT cheetah-bot is pictured above in MIT's Killian Court. The cheetah bot research is supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
MIT says it developed a new bounding algorithm for its robot to jump. The legs of MIT Cheetah 2 are programmed to exert a certain amount of force when they hit the ground. The faster they want the robot to run the more force the legs must apply to the ground. This force-based algorithmic approach also enables the robot to overcome some obstacles. The cheetah bot also contains a custom high-torque-density electric motor. The motor was designed by Jeffrey Lang, the Vitesse Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT. There are no special force sensors on the robots feet. MIT says the robot has reached speeds of 10 mph (16 km/h) and could obtain 30 mph (48 km/h) in the future.
MIT released these two videos over the past two days. The first video shows the cheetah robot leaping over obstacles while tethered to a treadmill. The robot is also seen running on a track free of its tether. The second video shows the robot running and bounding tether free on a grassy surface. Take a look:
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