More cool robots!

Hey everyone! In my last post I talked about Japanese robots that mimic elements of human cognitive functioning. You might also be interested in some robots that mimic locomotion that is similar to human movement. The Boston Dynamics group has built a robot called BigDog. BigDog can walk or run uphill, over obstacles, even in snow. BigDog may look more like a dog than a human, but like both dogs and humans BigDog is able to complete complex motion due in part to something called sensory feedback. 

Sensory feedback is very important to successful motor activity. Your body is constantly monitoring and adjusting itself based on sensory feedback about the tension, position, movement, etc. of your limbs.  Without sensory feedback, it would be very difficult to walk down the sidewalk or stand in line at the grocery store. In fact, without sensory feedback, you’d probably just fall over, limp. BigDog operates along the same principle. BigDog’s limbs receive information about the terrain based on how the limbs are flexing—just like your foot flexes and contracts to adjust to that crack in the asphalt. The result is the ability to move over rough ground successfully.  Check out how sensory feedback is working in this video of BigDog!

~ by mia27 on November 15, 2009.