We have all heard about smart drones and robots that climb up mountains but the future of robotics combines drones that come with legs. Basically, robots that can fly or drones that come with legs. Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) team has developed a new robot called LEONARDO which stands for “LEgs ONboARD drOne". This robot can walk a slackline, hop, and even ride a skateboard. According to CalTech, LEONARDO is the first robot that uses multi-joint legs and propeller-based thrusters to get better control over its balance.
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“By using a hybrid movement that is somewhere between walking and flying, the researchers get the best of both worlds in terms of locomotion. LEO’s lightweight legs take stress off of its thrusters by supporting the bulk of the weight, but because the thrusters are controlled synchronously with leg joints, LEO has uncanny balance," according to CalTech.
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The LEONARDO robot is 2.5-feet tall and comes with two legs that have three actuated joints, along with four propeller thrusters mounted at an angle at the robot’s shoulders. “When a person walks, they adjust the position and orientation of their legs to cause their centre of mass to move forward while the body’s balance is maintained," it explained.
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“Because of its propellers, you can poke or prod LEO with a lot of force without actually knocking the robot over," said Elena-Sorina Lupu (MS ’21), graduate student at Caltech and co-author of the Science Robotics paper.
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