Switzerland: Creating a four-legged robot that jumps like a gazelle

Switzerland – Specialists from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, designed a four-legged robot to train it to jump like a gazelle, change the way it walks and run in rugged areas.

According to the school, this scientific research expands knowledge regarding animals, and in the future will allow robots to be used more widely in biological research, reducing reliance on the use of animals in experiments, as this is linked to ethical issues. The results of the scientific research were published in the journal Nature Communications.

The school’s press service explained that using machine learning software, the four-legged robot was trained on how to “avoid falling to the ground by automatically switching from walking to running and jumping.” In particular, the robot can move from trotting to jumping with a bent back, which is a characteristic of deer when crossing rough terrain full of potholes.

By studying the robot’s behavior, the scientists concluded that “different gaits show different levels of resistance to random influences, and that the robot switches from walking to running to maintain vitality, just as four-legged animals do when accelerating.” While walking on an experimental surface full of holes, the robot moved independently, without instructions from scientists, from running to jumping to avoid falling.

Scientists believe that the factor of maintaining vitality plays a more important role when an animal changes its gait than the factor of efficient energy utilization. One of the authors of the scientific paper, Milad Shafi, said: “It appears that energy efficiency, which was previously thought to be the driver of these changes, is more likely a consequence rather than a cause. “When an animal is navigating rough terrain, its first priority is likely to avoid falls, followed by energy efficiency.” According to the researcher, the biotechnology-based training system that the researchers used demonstrated the ability of the four-legged robot to maneuver when crossing areas with difficult terrain.

The scientists intend to expand their scientific research by conducting additional experiments in which different types of robots are placed in more complex and diverse conditions.

Source: TASS