Scientists from German scientists have developed a new ultralight robot that comes with its fair share of sensors, where it sports an insect-like gait, not to mention the unique ability to be able to climb over objects. Known as “Hector”, this unique robot will feature passive elastic joints alongside an extremely light exoskeleton that allows it to get around. In a nutshell, it works in the same manner as that of its biological counterpart, sporting a decentralized reactive control concept known as the Walknet.
There is a reason behind Hector’s invention though, where it functions as a platform for biologists and roboticists to test out hypotheses concerning animal locomotion. A major aspect of Hector’s development would include the fusion of large amounts of data from sensors in order for it to walk in a far more autonomous manner than ever before.
Professor Dr Axel Schneider from the Bielefeld University in Germany, shared, “The way that the elasticity in Hector’s drives acts is comparable to the way that muscles act in biological systems.” With a total of 18 joints, Hector is capable of adapting flexibly to the properties of the surfaces where it is currently walking on, how neat is that? It is envisioned that by 2017, Hector the walking robot will come equipped with extra abilities, where it would fall under the purview of a major project at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC).
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