Insect-Like Robots Walk Faster When They Ignore Nature
Three legs good, two legs better. At least, that’s the case if you’re counting the number a six-limbed robot should leave on the ground to move quickly.
Roboticists often borrow from nature when it comes to walking styles—but that doesn't mean the movements are necessarily the most efficient. Most insects leave three of their six legs on the ground as they scuttle, but they do so to ensure they maintain enough friction against a surface to allow them to climb slopes. Now, calculations published in Nature Communications by researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland reveal that leaving just two feet on the floor can make movement faster on the flat.
Testing that idea out using a robot modeled on a fruit fly yields results that speak for themselves: in the video, the top robot leaves three feet on the floor, while the bottom one leaves just two. The latter is 25 percent faster. When the insect robots of your nightmares chase you down, expect them to be coming faster than you expected.
(Read more: Nature Communications, “DARPA’s Robot Challenge May Equip Robots to One Day Walk Among Us,” “The Latest Boston Dynamics Creation Escapes the Lab, Roams the Snowy Woods,” “Agile Robots”)
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch
Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.