Running Robot Breaks Speed Records
From: Wired - 08/17/2011
By: Katie Scott 

University of Michigan researchers have developed MABEL, a running robot that
recently set the world record by running 6.8 miles per hour. The researchers
have developed special feedback algorithms that allow MABEL to balance even
when running over uneven terrain. MABEL is designed to have almost human
physiology, with a heavier torso and light, flexible legs with springs that
act like tendons, according to Michigan professor Jessy Grizzle. "We envision
some extraordinary potential applications for legged robot research:
Exoskeletons that enable wheelchair-bound people to walk again or that give
rescuers super-human abilities, and powered prosthetic limbs that behave like
their biological counterparts," says Oregon State University professor
Jonathan Hurst, who worked with the MABEL team as a doctoral student.
However, MABEL could have a more immediate application as a robot rescuer.
"If you would like to send in robots to search for people when a house is on
fire, it probably needs to be able to go up and down stairs, step over the
baby's toys on the floor, and maneuver in an environment where wheels and
tracks may not be appropriate," Grizzle says. Running robots such as MABEL
also could be a new type of human transportation system, according to
Michigan researcher Koushil Sreenath. 

Read the entire article and watch a video at:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/08/running-robot/
http://ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=8508

Links:
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOwk6_xpWo

Jessy Grizzle
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~grizzle/index.html

Jonathan Hurst
http://mime.oregonstate.edu/people/faculty/desgn_mech/hurst.html

MABEL
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~grizzle/papers/MABEL_description.html

Related:
Darpa: Fuse Nerves with Robot Limbs, Make Prosthetics Feel Real
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/darpa-looks-to-fuse-nerves-with-robot-limbs-make-prosthetics-feel-real/

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Run, Robot, Run
From: Michigan Alumnus - Late Fall 2011 - page 36

A robot in a U-M lab can run like a human-a feat that represents the height
of agility and efficiency for a two-legged machine. With a peak pace of 6.8
miles per hour, MABEL is believed to be the world's fastest bipedal robot
with knees.

"It's stunning," said Jessy Grizzle, a professor in the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "I have never seen a machine
doing a motion like this."

Few robots can run, and the researchers say no machine but MABEL can do it
with such a human-like gait. MABEL is in the air for 40 percent of each
stride, "Like a real runner," Grizzle said, versus the 10 percent of other
running robots that are almost speedwalking.

"We envision some extraordinary potential applications for legged robot
research: exoskeletons that enable wheelchair-bound people to walk again or
that give rescuers super-human abilities, and powered prosthetic limbs that
behave like their biological counterparts," said Jonathan Hurst, one of the
original MABEL developers in 2008 and now an assistant professor at Oregon
State University.

Links:
Dynamic Leg Locomotion
http://www.youtube.com/user/dynamicleglocomotion