At the World Robotics Congress, cool robots from 15 countries appeared, with not only two legs, but also four legs and many legs. In fact, the existing robot "kingdom" includes fixed, wheeled, crawler, biped, multi-legged and other different "populations".
Legged robots with bipedal and multi-legged features are more adaptable to harsh terrain and more difficult to develop, which represents the scientific and technological peak in the field of robot research.
For a long time, all military powers have shown great interest in the research of legged robots. The giant robot of "Future Warrior" conceived by the US military looks exactly like the terminator in Hollywood movies. It can be predicted that with the maturity of legged robots such as Atlas, future military robots will "rush" to the battlefield and set off a new round of war revolution!
Backflip unlocks the new position.
When it comes to military robots, our first reaction is clumsy machines with wheeled or tracked manipulators and sensors. Nowadays, the legged robot represented by humanoid robot is on the fast track of perfect development. The scenes of robots and humans standing on the same battlefield in a series of movies, such as Public Enemy of Machinery and Terminator, are accelerating to become a reality. In these sci-fi scenes, military robots are depicted as "steel warriors" standing on two legs.
The earliest research on legged robots in the western world can be traced back to the Da Vinci era. 1495, Leonardo da Vinci designed a humanoid robot in the manuscript. Since 1992, the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense has invested a lot of money to support Boston Dynamics in the research of military robots. Today, their most mature work is Atlas.
Through continuous improvement and upgrading, Atlas can reach1.75m in height and weigh about 80kg after standing. It can cross all kinds of terrain, climb and carry heavy objects, and its hands can also open doors and grab objects. Through lidar and various sensors carried on him, this guy also has the ability to avoid obstacles and identify objects.
Now, "Atlas" has unlocked the "new posture". In addition to achieving a beautiful backflip, it has become lighter and more dexterous. Even if you fall, you can get up by yourself, which is already a "miracle" in the field of humanoid robots.
Before Atlas became an "Internet celebrity", there was another kind of legged robot that attracted widespread attention because it resembled a "wooden cow and a flowing horse", that is, the "big dog" robot. The real name of "Big Dog" is "Infantry Unit Support System", which mainly imitates quadrupeds, transports materials on the battlefield with complex terrain, and can walk 30 kilometers with the trench on the rugged mountain road.
"Re-evolution" on the road of "walking".
As early as in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military robots have already made great achievements. However, most of these robots are wheeled or tracked, which has many limitations in practical battlefield applications. Traditional wheeled robots have poor obstacle-crossing ability and low terrain adaptability, and are prone to problems such as slipping and instability. Crawler robots also have higher requirements for terrain, which is far less flexible and convenient than robots imagined.
In contrast, legged robots can stand, walk and run, which represents an important development direction of military robots in the future. At present, biped robots can be divided into single-legged, bipedal and multi-legged types, and biped robots are also the research focus of military powers.
One of the advantages of legged robot is its strong adaptability to complex terrain and its ability to cross various obstacles. In the process of moving forward, the legged robot adopts the way of discrete foothold, which can adapt to the changeable terrain well.
RHex, a legged robot, "evolved" six rotatable mechanical legs, which can not only cross all kinds of complex terrain, but also perform tasks in wet areas, even if it falls off a cliff. At the same time, the legged robot also has good "fault tolerance", even if one limb fails, the other limbs can still operate normally. This is also a big advantage compared with wheeled and tracked robots.
Strong athletic ability is also one of the specialties of legged robots. The "Cheetah" robot funded by the US Department of Defense can reach 45 kilometers per hour, and it adopts a quadruped movement mode that imitates cheetahs. At present, a robot named "Petman" has been developed, which can even complete sports on the treadmill, especially walking and squatting, showing its strong sports ability.
"Iron warrior" will "run" to the battlefield.
With the rapid development of science and technology and the wide application of intelligent military, a thrilling robot war will be staged in the future battlefield. At present, some military powers are setting up robot troops, and some military robots have begun to perform combat tasks such as reconnaissance and surveillance, alert duty and precision strike. It is conceivable that with the development of legged robots, the future "steel warriors" will "rush" to the battlefield.
Leg-legged robot can play a great role in the complex and changeable battlefield environment in the future. Leg-legged robots represented by "big dogs" can not only transport materials over mountains and mountains, but also be equipped with weapons and armor to become infantry fire support weapons and better cooperate with human operations. Especially in the future mountain operations and urban warfare, the legged robot can give full play to its flexible characteristics and achieve better operational results.
The research and development of legged robots is to find a set of "armor suits" for human beings. The U.S. Department of Defense is developing a "robot leg" that can be tied to the legs of American soldiers, that is, an exoskeleton enhancer, which can greatly increase the weight of materials carried by American soldiers, reduce the fatigue of long-term load bearing and speed up the March.
This kind of "robot leg" mainly imitates the human nervous system to play its role. It can calculate the weight carried on the body in real time and distribute the weight to the steel frame structure reasonably through mechanical adjustment, thus minimizing the pressure borne by the bearer and hopefully turning every soldier into a "machine warrior".
At the same time, the "understanding" of the mobility of legs and feet will also help the development of manipulator. Humanoid robot with manipulator has been able to work in dangerous environment and has great application prospects in dealing with nuclear accidents, explosives and other fields.