September 15, 2014 03:40pm ETStealth Cheetah Robot Sprints Like a Cat (Video)

Robots are likely not the first thing you think of when you hear the word "speed," but one group of researchers is trying to quell the stereotype of a lumbering robot with a machine built to move more like one of nature's quickest creatures — the cheetah.

Clocking in at a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h), the robotic cheetah isn't quite ready to compete with its wild cousins, who can accelerate to 60 mph (96 km/h) in just a few seconds. But this four-legged robot could eventually reach speeds of 30 mph (48 km/h), according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Like a real cheetah, the robot is designed to build up to a full sprint quickly by moving its legs in tandem (i.e., its back legs move together, as do its front legs) — a pattern of movement known as bounding. [See video of the cheetah robot in action]

To get the four-legged machine to run like its big-cat inspiration, researchers created an algorithm that controls the amount of force exerted by each of the robot's legs as it hits the ground. Having a high degree of control over force is important because it allows the researchers to manage the robot's speed, said Sangbae Kim, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, who helped develop the cheetah bot.

"Many sprinters, like Usain Bolt, don't cycle their legs really fast. They actually increase their stride by pushing downward harder and increasing their ground force," Kim said in a statement.

By adopting this force-based approach to building speed, the researchers were able to build a bot that can handle rough terrain, Kim said. In the same way that a cheetah can bound over a rock that sticks out of the savannah, the robot cheetah can jump over obstacles in its path. In treadmill experiments, the researchers found that the bot could jump over foam obstacles that are more than a foot (30 centimeters) tall.

But perhaps the coolest (and most catlike) thing about this bot is its stealth abilities. Propelled forward by battery-powered electric motors, the new cheetah bot is quiet compared to other four-legged robots, most of which are powered by gasoline engines, according to Kim.

 

The cheetah robot is powered by onboard electrical motors. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/MITView full size image

"Our robot can be [as] silent and as efficient as animals," Kim said. "The only things you hear are the feet hitting the ground. This is kind of a new paradigm where we're controlling force in a highly dynamic situation. Any legged robot should be able to do this in the future."

The U.S. military has been trying for several years to develop a robot that is as quiet as it is quick. In 2012, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the military tasked with developing new technologies, introduced its Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program, which aims to develop robots that behave more like animals and humans.

One of the most successful designs to come out of the M3 program so far is a robot known simply as Cheetah. Designed by engineers at Boston Dynamics, this machine is allegedly the fastest robot in the world, clocking in at 28.3 mph (45.5 km/h) in treadmill tests. However, an off-board hydraulic pump powers the bot, which makes the machine very loud and not very mobile.

Boston Dynamics is still working on a quadruped bot, the WildCat, that's less noisy and that can be used outside of the lab. MIT's cheetah robot, also funded by DARPA, may offer some insight into how to build a stealthier bot.

Follow Elizabeth Palermo @techEpalermo. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

隐秘的猎豹机器人能像猫科动物般奔跑

Stealth猎豹机器人短跑像猫

机器人很可能你不觉得当你听到这个词＆QUOT的第一件事情，速度， ＆QUOT;但一组研究人员正试图平息一场笨拙的机器人与机器内置移动更像是大自然的最快的动物＆mdash之一的刻板印象;猎豹.

以每小时10英里（16公里

小时），最高时速打卡，机器人猎豹是没有完全准备好与野生表亲，谁可以加速到60英里（96公里

小时）的竞争在短短的几秒钟。但是，这四条腿的机器人最终可能达到的速度为30英里每小时（48公里每小时），据研究人员在美国麻省理工学院（MIT）.

像一个真正的猎豹，机器人的目的是建立一个完整的冲刺很快就被移动它的腿串联（即它的后腿一起移动，因为这样做它的前腿）＆mdash;运动的图案被称为边界。 [见行动猎豹机器人的视频See video of the cheetah robot in action地面。拥有了力控制的高度很重要，因为它使研究人员能够管理机器人的速度，说Sangbae金，机械工程麻省理工学院的副教授，谁帮助开发了猎豹机器人.

u0026 QUOT;许多短跑运动员一样乌塞恩博尔特，不循环他们的腿真快。他们实际上通过向下更难推动和提高他们的地面部队，＆QUOT提高他们的步伐;金在.

一份声明中通过采用这种力量为基础的建设速度表示，研究人员能够建立一个机器人，可以处理崎岖的地形，Kim说。在一个猎豹可以绑定在一个岩石伸出大草原的同样的方式，猎豹机器人可以跳过去在道路上的障碍。在跑步机上的实验中，研究人员发现，机器人可以跳过泡沫的障碍是超过一英尺（30厘米）高.

但也许是最酷的（也是最猫爪）关于这个机器人是它的隐身能力。向前推进由电池供电的电动机，相对于其他的四条腿的机器人，其中大部分是由汽油发动机，根据金新猎豹机器人是安静。

猎豹机器人由板上电动马达提供动力。图片来源：何塞·路易斯·奥利瓦雷斯

我们的机器人可以[ASas金说。;你听到的唯一的事情是双脚撞击地面。这是怎样的一个新的范例，我们正在控制力在一个高度动态的情况。任何足机器人应该能够做到这一点，将来;

美国军方一直在努力了好几年开发一种机器人，安静，因为它是快。 2012年，美国国防部高级研究计划局（DARPA），负责开发新技术的军事分支，推出了其最大的移动性和操控（M3）计划，该计划旨在开发机器人更像动物和人类.

其中最成功的设计出来的M3方案至今是简称为猎豹机器人。工程师在波士顿动力学设计，这款机器据称最快的机器人在世界上，在28.3英里每小时（45.5公里

小时）在跑步机测试时钟研究。然而，非车载液压泵权力的机器人，这使得该机很响亮，不是很移动.??

波士顿动力仍在??研究四足机器人，野猫，这就是噪音小，并且可以在实验室之外使用。麻省理工学院的猎豹机器人，还资助由DARPA，可能会提供一些??深入了解如何建立一个隐蔽机器人.