MIT researchers have developed an algorithm for bounding that they've successfully implemented in a robotic cheetah. (Learn more: http://mitsha.re/1uHoltW)
The key to the bounding algorithm is in programming each of the robot's legs to exert a certain amount of force in the split second during which it hits the ground, in order to maintain a given speed: In general, the faster the desired speed, the more force must be applied to propel the robot forward. In experiments the robot sprinted up to 10 mph and MIT researchers estimate the robot may eventually reach speeds of up to 30 mph.
The MIT Cheetah 2 contains the custom electric motor designed by Jeffrey Lang, the Vitesse Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT and the amplifier designed by David Otten, a principal research engineer in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics.
This work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
MIT Cheetah robot 2 run fast and jump high
http://youtu.be/vUmLwKGiyf8
Sangbae Kim: Inspired by Nature - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWAbtQqhlo
Video: Melanie Gonick, MIT News
Additional footage: Hae-Won Park and José-Luis Olivares
Music sampled from "Spooky" by Alastair Cameron
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Alastair_Cameron
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
