Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2022 - MD-15

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FEATURED SPONSOR VIDEO:
3D Printing Trendsetter Shares Success Secrets
The equipment built by Titan Robotics sets an eye-opening new
standard for speed and precision in 3D printing.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/3d-printing-trendsetter
LEONARDO, the bipedal robot, can ride a skateboard and walk a slackline.
(Photo: Caltech)
the two disparate domains of aerial and bipedal locomotion
that are not typically intertwined in existing robotic systems,
according to Kyunam Kim, Postdoctoral Researcher at Caltech
and co-lead author of the Science Robotics paper that featured
the robot.
By using a hybrid movement that is somewhere between
walking and flying, the researchers get the best of both worlds
in terms of locomotion. LEO's lightweight legs take stress off of
its thrusters by supporting the bulk of the weight, but because
the thrusters are controlled synchronously with leg joints, LEO
has uncanny balance.
LEO stands 2.5 feet tall and is equipped with two legs that
have three actuated joints, along with four propeller thrusters
mounted at an angle at the robot's shoulders. When a person
walks, they adjust the position and orientation of their legs to
cause their center of mass to move forward while the body's
balance is maintained. LEO walks in this way as well: the propellers
ensure that the robot is upright as it walks, and the leg
actuators change the position of the legs to move the robot's
center of mass forward through the use of a synchronized walking
and flying controller. In flight, the robot uses its propellers
alone and flies like a drone.
In the real world, the technology designed for LEO could
foster the development of adaptive landing gear systems composed
of controlled leg joints for aerial robots and other types
of flying vehicles. The team envisions that future Mars rotorcraft
could be equipped with legged landing gear so that the
body balance of these aerial robots can be maintained as they
land on sloped or uneven terrains, thereby reducing the risk of
failure under challenging landing conditions.
For more information, contact Emily Velasco at evelasco@caltech.
edu; 626-372-0067.
Motion Design, February 2022
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Autonomous 'Roboats'
Navigate Canals
See how autonomous Roboats
use sensor data to navigate
through the crowded waterways
of the Amsterdam canals.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
autonomous-roboats
MIT Control System
Supports a New Kind
of Robot
Researchers at MIT are
developing a control system to
apply the agility of cheetahs to
four-legged robots.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
mini-cheetah
UAV Autonomously
Lands on Moving
Ship Deck
Watch as the Flight Dynamics
& Control Lab at Washington
University commands an
unmanned aerial vehicle to
autonomously land on a moving
ship from a turbulent air wake.
www.techbriefs.com/tv/
autonomous-ship-landing
www.techbriefs.tv
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http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/3d-printing-trendsetter http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/autonomous-roboats http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/mini-cheetah http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/autonomous-ship-landing http://www.techbriefs.tv http://info.hotims.com/82318-800

Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2022

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