Resea-rchers have developed a six-legged all-terrain robot that can run, leap, back-flip, climb and navigate its way over obstacles even bigger than itself.
RHex is an all-terrain walking robot that could one day climb over rubble in a rescue mission or cross the desert with environmental sensors strapped to its back, researchers said.
RHex is short for “robot hexapod,” a name that stems from its six springy legs. Legs have an advantage over wheels when it comes to rough terrain, but the articulated legs often found on walking robots require complex, specialised instructions for each moving part, researchers said. To get the most mobility out of RHex’s simple, one-jointed legs, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are essentially teaching the robot Parkour. Taking inspiration from human free-runners, the team is showing the robot how to manipulate its body in creative ways to get around all sorts of obstacles.
The RHex platform was first developed through a multi-university collaboration more than a decade ago. Graduate student Aaron Johnson and professor Daniel Kodits-chek are working on a version of RHex known as XRL.