RunBot is a miniature

bipedal Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

which belongs to the class of

limit cycle In mathematics, in the study of dynamical systems with two-dimensional phase space, a limit cycle is a closed trajectory in phase space having the property that at least one other trajectory spirals into it either as time approaches infinity o ...

walkers. Instead of using a central pattern generator it uses reflexes which generate the gait. The reflexes are triggered by ground contact sensors in the feet which then activate the motors. The generation of the walking gait is straightforward: when a foot touches the ground the ''other'' leg is lifted upwards so that the robot falls forward. This then causes this leg to touch the ground and so forth. The walking speed can be improved by means of reinforcement learning because there are only a few parameters in this scheme. RunBot was built in 2005 by Tao Geng as part of his PhD under supervision of Prof Woergoetter and after an idea by Dr Porr to use a walking robot to benchmark reflex based reinforcement learning rules. Its movements and adaptability are based on the work of neurophysiologist

Nikolai Bernstein Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein (russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Бернште́йн; 5 November 1896 – 16 January 1966) was a Soviet neurophysiologist who has pioneered motion-tracking devices and formal processing of in ...

. Since its inception the RunBot has undergone numerous design iterations,Manoonpong, P.; Geng, T.; Kulvicius, T.; Bernd Porr; Woergoetter, F. (2007). Adaptive, Fast Walking in a Biped Robot under Neuronal Control and Learning. PLoS (Public Library of Science) Computational Biology (PLoS Comput Biol), 3(7), e134. for example where a moveable upper body mass on the robot keeps the walking pattern stable even on uneven terrain.

Design

The locomotion system is kept simple with four motors: one on each of two knees, one on each of two hips. The sensory system is of similar simplicity, with the ability to detect the ground contact and the angles of the hips/knee motors. The motors are controlled by force and not by angle.

References

External links

Runbot's creators recorded demonstrations of RunBot: * * * * * {{Cite web, url=http://www.nld.ds.mpg.de/~poramate/Runbot.html, title=Poramate Manoonpong's RunBot page Bipedal robots 2007 robots Science and technology in Europe Robot legs