Balancing isn’t easy – trust me. Sometimes even staying on two feet is a challenge, but this robot out of Boston Dynamics is starting to master the art of one-footed stability.
This bipedal creation is balancing on the edge of a plywood beam, measuring approximately 2 cm thick, on just one foot! For almost an entire 30 seconds, this machine is able to masterfully maintain its steadiness, which is an impressive stretch of time for even a human to achieve.
What’s incredible is how the robot regains its equilibrium. The robot has the human-like ability to shift its body within seconds, maintaining an upright position. It even adjusts its mechanical foot and rotates its torso to react to any varies in weight. Made of both aluminum and titanium, the robot scales in at 330 pounds, beautifully investigating its new balancing algorithm.
The rebalancing, shaking motion is due to the state estimation process, with the Atlas robot using only onboard sensors. The control algorithm for this design was developed by The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) and the robot itself was built by Boston Dynamics.
The video below showcases this robot’s balancing prowess. The team of designers actually refer to this video as a “lucky run,” demonstrating one of its longest stretches of stability.