A Robot That Walks the Walk From: Michigan Engineer - Spring 2005 - page 18 By: Conny Coon Two-legged robots are the best models for this sort of study, but most of today's existing bipedal robots walk on the basis of a quasi-static stability notion, which imposes a conservative walking motion in which the foot remains flat on the ground to achieve balance with each step. Human locomotion on the other hand is statically unstable in most points of the gait: if you were to attempt to "freeze" your motion in mid-stride, you'd fall. A human gait uses dynamic stability. The flat-footed walking of current robots is clearly un-humanlike. With support from the National Science Foundation and the Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, Jessy Grizzle began working cooperatively with a French research team to solve the problem of dynamic stabilization in walking robots. Their project, ROBBEA, produced RABBIT, a bipedal robot specifically designed to advance the fundamental understanding of controlled, legged locomotion. Research conducted on RABBIT and robots like it will continue to advance the understanding of human locomotion. And building better robots will undoubtedly go a long way toward building and rebuilding better lives for many. Read the entrie article at: http://www.engin.umich.edu/alumni/engineer/05S/research/robot/ Photo caption: RABBIT is a bipedal robot designed to advance the understanding of controlled, legged locomotion. Links: Jessy W. Grizzle http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~grizzle/ Robot walks, balances like a human http://www.umich.edu/news/?Releases/2005/Jan05/grizzle_test --- Robot Walks, Balances Like a Human From: CNN - 04/18/2005 University of Michigan scientists say that have created a robot called "Rabbit" that is the first to resemble a human in the way it walks and balances. Instead of feet, Rabbit has stilts that can pivot on a point, and if the robot is pushed, it can step forward and regain its balance. Rabbit's locomotion is based on a theory described in the recent issue of the International Journal of Robotics Research. "It's a matter of understanding enough about the dynamics of walking and balance so that you can express with mathematical formulas how you want the robot to move, and then automatically produce the control algorithm that will induce the desired walking motion on the very first try," says Jessy Grizzle, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the university. Grizzle believes more affordable human prosthetics and rehabilitative walking aides for spinal injury patients could result from the development. The concept also has potential applications in stair-climbing machines for the home, and in robots for navigating difficult terrain. Read this entire article at: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/04/18/spark.rabbit --- Human-like Robot From: NASA Tech Briefs Insider - 05/17/2005 Taking over six years for scientists to develop, a machine called RABBIT is the first known robot to walk and balance like a human. It has been able to walk gracefully for the past 18 months. RABBIT was built without feet; its legs end like stilts so that it pivots on a point when it moves forward. The balancing ability programmed into the robot has many applications in the medical field, such as "smart" prosthetics that adapt to the wearer and physical rehabilitation aids to help people regain the ability to walk. Read the complete story at: http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2005/May05/r051105 --- Robot Runs Like Humans From: Technology Research News - 06/22/2005 By: Eric Smalley Scientists from the University of Michigan and the Communications and the Cybernetic Research Institute of Nantes in France have used a series of algorithms to map the mechanics of balance in a bipedal robot they have developed that can walk and run like a human. The robot, named "Rabbit," has no feet, ankles, or upper body, and moves as though on stilts. Running posed a special challenge, as researchers used a three-phase trajectory to maintain control of robot while it was out of contact with the ground. Michigan engineering and computer science professor Jessy Grizzle says the mathematical insight their research provides into dynamic balancing will have significant implications for rehabilitation and prosthetics. Rabbit represents a departure from earlier passive dynamic robots because of active joints, powered by motors that offer increased agility, albeit at the expense of speed. Grizzle says adoption of their dynamic balancing technology is still two to five years in the offing, while he expect to see medical applications in use in five to 10 years. Rabbit is part of a larger research project with goal of developing robots that can run, walk and run at different speeds, and walk while carrying a load. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation and France's National Center for Scientific Research, was presented at the IEEE Conference on Decision and Control in December. Others working on the project include Ohio State University's Eric Westervelt, and the Cybernetics Research Institute's Christine Chevallereau. Read the entire story at: http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2005/061505/Robot_runs_like_humans_061505.html