And it's only getting faster
Posted 11.15.2011 at 6:45 pm
16 Comments
FastRunner
IHMC
When in doubt, look to nature. It’s the creed of the biomimicry movement, and it’s not lost on blue-sky thinkers over at DARPA. Research carried out by MIT and the Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) is delivering to the DoD a robotic biped that will run faster than Usain Bolt--perhaps as fast as 50 miles an hour eventually. Presenting DARPA’s robo-ostrich.
The rendering above shows FastRunner, the robot capable of extreme speed and endurance even over uneven terrain or negotiating obstacles or stairs. The collaboration has already produced a bird-like leg design based on the ostrich that consists of a single motor per leg, a locking knee, and springs that can store and release energy so it doesn’t have to rely on the batteries for every bit of kinetic motion. The single motor per leg and springs also help cut down on weight, keeping FastRunner lithe and lean for those long sprints ahead.
Related Articles
 | BullDog: A Bigger, Scarier Version of BigDog Gets Closer to the Battlefield |
 | DARPA Commissions a Super-Fast Running Robot Cheetah |
 | Video: Humanoid Robot Petman Works Out |
Tags
Technology, Clay Dillow, biomimicry, darpa, fastrunner, ostrich, robotics, robots, VideoThe architecture is also scalable, the team says. The FastRunner leg could be adapted to four-legged ‘bots or humanoids as well to grant them higher running speeds and increased agility.
If the ostrich-bot conjures thoughts of Boston Dynamics’ BigDogand LittleDog, as well as the cheetah robot under development over there, it should. Both DARPA and IHMC have worked with Boston Dynamics on aspects of those projects in the past. The DoD seems to be working toward some confluence of biomimicked robotics technologies that could someday provide a suite of sophisticated legged robot designs that will help in building assistive robot platforms, exoskeletons, and the like.
To get a better idea of how exactly the robo-ostrich leg articulates, check out the videos below.
16 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson On Being Told To Remove 3-D Printed Gun Plans: "We Win"
- Thieves Stole $45 Million From ATMs Because The U.S. Uses Absurd 40-Year-Old Technology
- A California State Senator Is Trying To Outlaw 3-D Printed Guns
- 2013 Invention Awards: Family Flier
- Autonomous X-47B Jet Fighter Makes Historic First Launch From An Aircraft Carrier
- U.S. Navy Spends $37 Billion On A Ship That Barely Works
- Time-Lapse GIFs Show Earth Transforming Over 25 Years
- How To Turn An AK-47 Into A Soup Ladle
- How The World's First 3-D Printed Gun Works
- Iran Unveils Absurd New Stealth Drone
Most Emailed
Technology
- NASA Invests In 3-D Food Printer For Mars Missions
- Oklahoma Students Design Drones That Can Fly Into Tornadoes
- Russia's 'Space Ark' Returns All Of Its Lizards And Half Its Mice Safely To Earth
- Google Maps Helps People Find Families They Lost Decades Ago
- Norwegian Geologists Begin Drone-Guided Quest For Oil
- Another Big Milestone For The X-47B: Its First Touch And Go Landing
- South Pole Lab Detects Elusive Deep-Space Neutrinos For The First Time
- Yahoo! Officially Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion
- Mars Rover Opportunity Travels Farther Than A NASA Vehicle Has Ever Traveled On Another Planet
- 7 Reasons Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Is A Beginner's Guide To Star Trek [Spoiler Alert]
Most Viewed
Technology
- NASA Invests In 3-D Food Printer For Mars Missions
- Oklahoma Students Design Drones That Can Fly Into Tornadoes
- Russia's 'Space Ark' Returns All Of Its Lizards And Half Its Mice Safely To Earth
- Google Maps Helps People Find Families They Lost Decades Ago
- Norwegian Geologists Begin Drone-Guided Quest For Oil
- Another Big Milestone For The X-47B: Its First Touch And Go Landing
- South Pole Lab Detects Elusive Deep-Space Neutrinos For The First Time
- Yahoo! Officially Acquires Tumblr For $1.1 Billion
- Mars Rover Opportunity Travels Farther Than A NASA Vehicle Has Ever Traveled On Another Planet
- 7 Reasons Why 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Is A Beginner's Guide To Star Trek [Spoiler Alert]
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
I think thats a fast ostrich. Wonder if it can be applied toward humans that may have disabilities?
Electricians in San Diego, point Loma Electric offers EV or electric vehicle charging and electrical repair services.
That's one stupid looking robot. Even the dog robot looks better than that.
Hahaha
That is a good question guitarsuperman23. My little brother had a stroke while in my mom's stomach and it caused him to not be able to use his left side and it also gave him mental disabilities. I would love to see anything come out in the world that would help him out. If these robotic legs could be applied toward people with disabilities that would help him out greatly. I know something like that would just make him so much happier. It makes perfect sense to. Something like that seems like it easily could be used to help out people with disabilities, or if not that then something similar.
Aw! It is so cute! BAM! I am dead!
Something is wrong when a weapon is cute and deadly.
.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense.
Religion sees beyond the senses.
Sorry for my foolish remark earlier. That's the most immature way to comment on popsci. It will not happen again.
When it said 'scalable', I immediately thought of 30-foot-tall ostriches booming across the landscape.
-Spouting a fountain of nonsense since 1995-
Heh, reminds me of 'metal gear solid 4' robots at the beginning. Hope we steer clear from that path!
a bigger version like in return of the jedi, our gooses are cooked if they don't behave, cheers
@guitarsuperman23
I would put money on it that most of this tech eventually ends up in prosthetics. Disabled people and soldier who lost limbs in combat. I would also put money on it that there will be people who are willing to pay for human augmentation to perform at super human levels, even with perfectly good working body parts.
It doesn't look like it would be very good at turning...
Can it be a probe for Mars? Perhaps it will not get stuck in the soft dirt as often other probes.
You guys are thinking about this all wrong. Forget the military applications, and converting the tech for prosthetics. I want to ride one of those suckers! (Joust, anyone?)
HA! Thats what i neec to say.
I think this is a step in the right direction. Besides the obvious applications outside of the military already stated above, looking toward the future and combining this with the "Xbox/PS" generation, we'll be able to one day report for duty via the internet from our own living rooms!
good and bad with this, good because if we can make significant strides in being able to send impulses from the brain to legs like this we may be able to help people who cannot walk and beyond that people who cannot even move by themselves. Bad is just that silly, another step towards terminators haha
smart design idea.