Crazy man is a robotic dog that can not only walk on difficult terrain, but can also stand on its hind legs and manipulate objects with its front legs.
Robot LocoMan combines mobility and the ability to manipulate objects in a single version. This robot can change from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal one and use its front legs to manipulate objects. This innovative feature was detailed by researchers in a study published March 27 on the arXiv website.
LocoMan design
Proposal LocoMan is based on a combination of quadrupedal mobility and “manipulator” functionality.. In this case, manipulators are hand-like parts that allow the robot to control or manipulate objects without compromising its dexterity. Its multi-functional legs have proven versatile in challenging environments such as confined spaces and rocky terrain, maintaining precise and stable movements during tasks that require two-arm coordination.
The researchers were inspired by the anatomy of human arms to design “loco-manipulators”. Crazy man. They added joints in the calf area of the front legs, similar to human elbows and shoulders, while other joints resemble wrists. These manipulators are equipped with four compact actuators that provide position, velocity and torque feedback.
To keep the manipulators compact, the team designed a handle with two pairs of rotating jaws that symmetrically close and open using a single motor. Integrating these manipulators with the existing robot structure required aligning the joints to allow for movements and grasping actions. without one capacity interfering with the other.
Crazy man It has been tested in real-world situations such as opening doors, plugging into electrical outlets and lifting objects in confined spaces. The results were impressive, demonstrating “remarkable dexterity” in all tasks.
A team of scientists is planning a test Crazy man in more demanding environments and real situations. In addition, they plan to incorporate computer vision and machine learning algorithms to further improve the robot’s capabilities in the future.
