Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion. This week's collection features a bipedal wheeled robot prototype, NASA's SkyFall mission, and a wristband that lets wearers control a robotic hand with their own movements. We also have a multirobot planning and control framework, a quadrupedal robot that can climb stairs and steep slopes, and more.
'Roadrunner': A Bipedal Wheeled Robot Prototype
The 'Roadrunner' is a new bipedal wheeled robot prototype designed for multimodal locomotion. It weighs around 15 kg (33 lb) and can seamlessly switch between its side-by-side and in-line wheel modes and stepping configurations depending on what is required for navigating its environment. The robot's legs are entirely symmetric, allowing it to point its knees forward or backward, which can be used to avoid obstacles or manage specific movements. A single control policy was trained to handle both side-by-side and in-line driving. Several behaviors, including standing up from various ground configurations and balancing on one wheel, were successfully deployed zero-shot on the hardware.
What makes this particularly fascinating is the robot's ability to adapt to different environments and tasks. The 'Roadrunner' can switch between wheel modes and stepping configurations, allowing it to navigate a variety of terrains and perform different movements. This level of adaptability is crucial for robots that need to operate in dynamic and unpredictable environments. However, one thing that immediately stands out is the need for further development in terms of power efficiency and battery life. The robot's weight and size suggest that it may require a significant amount of power to operate, which could be a challenge for long-term deployment in real-world settings.
NASA's SkyFall Mission
NASA's SkyFall mission will build on the success of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which achieved the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Using a daring midair deployment, SkyFall will deliver a team of next-gen Mars helicopters to scout human landing sites and map subsurface water ice. This mission is a significant step forward in NASA's exploration of Mars, and it raises a deeper question about the potential for human exploration of other planets. What this really suggests is the need for more advanced and adaptable robotic systems that can assist humans in exploring and understanding other celestial bodies.
MIT Wristband for Robotic Hand Control
MIT engineers have designed a wristband that lets wearers control a robotic hand with their own movements. By moving their hands and fingers, users can direct a robot to perform specific tasks, or they can manipulate objects in a virtual environment with high-dexterity control. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way humans interact with robots, and it could have a significant impact on the development of wearable assistive systems. However, one thing that many people don't realize is the potential for this technology to be used in a variety of applications, from healthcare to manufacturing. For example, it could be used to assist individuals with disabilities in performing daily tasks, or it could be used to improve the efficiency of industrial processes.
Multirobot Planning and Control Framework
A multirobot planning and control framework is presented and demonstrated with a team of 40 indoor robots, including both ground and aerial robots. This framework has the potential to revolutionize the way robots operate in complex environments, and it could have a significant impact on the development of autonomous systems. However, one thing that many people don't realize is the need for further development in terms of scalability and robustness. The framework is designed to work with a large number of robots, but it may not be able to handle the complexities of real-world environments. Additionally, the framework may not be able to adapt to changes in the environment or to unexpected events.
Quadrupedal Robot for Cluttered Environments
Quadrupedal robots can navigate cluttered environments like their animal counterparts, but their floating-base configuration makes them vulnerable to real-world uncertainties. Controllers that rely only on proprioception (body sensing) must physically collide with obstacles to detect them. Those that add exteroception (vision) need precisely modeled terrain maps that are hard to maintain in the wild. DreamWaQ++ bridges this gap by fusing both modalities through a resilient multimodal reinforcement learning framework. The result: a single controller that handles rough terrains, steep slopes, and high-rise stairs—while gracefully recovering from sensor failures and situations it has never seen before.
What makes this particularly fascinating is the robot's ability to adapt to different environments and tasks. The DreamWaQ++ framework allows the quadrupedal robot to navigate cluttered environments and handle real-world uncertainties, which is crucial for robots that need to operate in dynamic and unpredictable settings. However, one thing that immediately stands out is the need for further development in terms of power efficiency and battery life. The robot's size and complexity suggest that it may require a significant amount of power to operate, which could be a challenge for long-term deployment in real-world settings.
iRobot Pyramid Exploration
While the pyramid exploration that iRobot did was very cool, they did it with a custom-made robot designed for a very specific environment. Cleaning your floors is way, way harder. This raises a deeper question about the potential for robots to adapt to different environments and tasks. What this really suggests is the need for more advanced and adaptable robotic systems that can handle a variety of tasks and environments. However, one thing that many people don't realize is the need for further development in terms of power efficiency and battery life. The robot's size and complexity suggest that it may require a significant amount of power to operate, which could be a challenge for long-term deployment in real-world settings.
Aibo App Updates
Props to Sony for its continued support and updates for Aibo! The Aibo app has been updated with new features and improvements, allowing users to interact with their robots in new and exciting ways. This is a great example of how technology can be used to enhance the user experience and create new opportunities for interaction. However, one thing that many people don't realize is the potential for this technology to be used in a variety of applications, from healthcare to education. For example, it could be used to assist individuals with disabilities in performing daily tasks, or it could be used to create interactive learning experiences for children.
Naviai Robot for Intelligent Cooking
The Naviai Robot is an intelligent cooking device developed by Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center Co., Ltd. It can autonomously process ingredients, perform cooking tasks with high accuracy, adjust smart kitchen equipment in real time, and complete postcooking cleaning. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we cook and prepare food, and it could have a significant impact on the food industry. However, one thing that many people don't realize is the need for further development in terms of safety and reliability. The robot's ability to handle a variety of cooking tasks and environments suggests that it may be able to handle a wide range of applications, but it will require significant testing and validation to ensure that it is safe and reliable for use in real-world settings.
Formal Methods for Robotics in the Age of Big Data
Hadas Kress-Gazit from Cornell will give a talk on 'Formal Methods for Robotics in the Age of Big Data' at the CMU RI Seminar. Formal methods—mathematical techniques for describing systems, capturing requirements, and providing guarantees—have been used to synthesize robot control from high-level specification, and to verify robot behavior. Given the recent advances in robot learning and data-driven models, what role can, and should, formal methods play in advancing robotics? This raises a deeper question about the potential for formal methods to be used in a variety of applications, from healthcare to manufacturing. For example, it could be used to ensure the safety and reliability of robotic systems, or it could be used to improve the efficiency of industrial processes.
