Communications of the ACM
DARPA Robot Sprints to Speed Record
Boston Dynamics
A video on the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA's) Web site shows a four-legged robot reaching a galloping speed of up to 18 miles per hour, which is a new land-speed record for legged robots, according to DARPA.
The robot, called Cheetah, is part of DARPA's Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program, an initiative that seeks to create robots with unprecedented mobility and ability to perform human tasks. DARPA plans to test a free-running prototype of Cheetah later this year. "The robot increases its stride and running speed by flexing and un-flexing its back on each step, much as an actual cheetah does," the agency says.
DARPA also posted video of another M3 project, Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM), that shows a robotic arm and hand autonomously performing 18 grasping and manipulation tasks, such as hanging up the phone and turning on a desk light, using vision, force, and tactile sensing. ARM will engage in more complex tasks that involve using two hands in the second phase of the project.
DARPA says the robots could assist in extremely dangerous and difficult military engagements.
From InformationWeek
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