2023-10-11 18:01:56
Disney researchers have developed a new system to combine the gestures of animatronics with the agility of modern bipedal robots. The result is an adorable little robot, capable of moving and catching itself on rough terrain, while remaining in character.
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Since its very first “audio-animatronics” in theEnchanted Tiki Room In 1963, Disney continued to improve its robots in order to make them more alive. After having developed a face with realistic and slightly frightening expressions, and a baby Groot, the firm has just revealed its brand new animatronics.
Developed by the Disney Research laboratory in Zurich, the robot was designed to look childish and adorable. Most of the elements that make it up have been 3D printed so that it can be easily modified. It has a head with four degrees of freedom, and short legs with five degrees of freedom.
Introducing a bipedal robot capable of navigating real-world obstacles while remaining in character. © Walt Disney Imagineering
Stay in character
For the researchers, simply getting it to work was insufficient. Robots must embody characters, and therefore have a gait and body language to convey emotions. Researchers have created a reinforcement learning system that can run on a simple PC. In addition to robotics specialists, the team contains animators who design all the gestures to make the character more alive. The learning system is able to maintain this gesture while passing real-world obstacles, whether it is uneven terrain or simply when someone pushes it, so that the robot always remains in the skin of the character.
For Disney, the important thing is not the adorable robot that was introduced, but the process that went into creating it. With the system thus developed, the researchers intend to create more characters with more dynamic movements.
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