{"id":1718,"date":"2021-10-19T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/singularityumexicosummit.com\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2021-10-19T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T16:00:00","slug":"this-bipedal-drone-robot-can-walk-fly-skateboard-and-slackline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singularityumexico.com\/en\/this-bipedal-drone-robot-can-walk-fly-skateboard-and-slackline\/","title":{"rendered":"This Bipedal Drone Robot Can Walk, Fly, Skateboard, and Slackline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most animals are limited to either walking, flying, or swimming, with a handful of lucky species whose physiology allows them to cross over. A new robot took inspiration from them, and can fly like a bird just as well as it can walk like a (weirdly awkward, metallic, tiny) person. It also happens to be able to skateboard and slackline, two skills most humans will never pick up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Described in a paper<\/a> published this week in Science Robotics<\/em>, the robot\u2019s name is Leo, which is short for Leonardo, which is short for LEgs ONboARD drOne. The name makes it sound like a drone with legs, but it has a somewhat humanoid shape, with multi-joint legs, propeller thrusters that look like arms, a \u201cbody\u201d that contains its motors and electronics, and a dome-shaped protection helmet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo was built by a team at Caltech, and they were particularly interested in how the robot would transition between walking and flying. The team notes that they studied the way birds use their legs to generate thrust when they take off, and applied similar principles to the robot. In a video that shows Leo approaching a staircase, taking off, and gliding over the stairs to land near the bottom, the robot\u2019s motions are seamlessly graceful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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