RHex: Robotic Hexapod
RHex: Robotic Hexapod
Overview
The RHex project arose from an earlier DARPA DSO effort initiated within the 1998 CBS/CBBS program called Computational Neuromechanics. In this prior work our team addressed hypotheses about the organization of locomotory control in animals in a mathematically sound and empirically refutable manner while exploring as well the prospects for using MEMS technology to create effectively an electronic harness for insects.
Goals and Methods
The overarching goal of the RHex project was to develop a robotic mobility system that could navigate over highly broken and unstable, natural terrain with a competence arising from insights about animal locomotion.
Observations from various comparative biological studies on insects combined with our team’s long history in robotic design led to the RHex concept which significantly diverged from the prior stereotypical approaches to robot design. This legged locomotion platform is a hybrid dynamical system that features only six active degrees of freedom - one actuator in each hip. The legs of the robot are made out of compliant material realizing passive actuation in radial and wing degrees of freedom. RHex’s base level locomotion behavior arises from appropriately tuned task level open loop control. Namely, actuation actions are performed according to a well timed schedule in the absence of sensory information relating the robot to its environment and to its goal.
Outcomes
RHex was the first legged machine to run over badly broken, unstable terrain, and the first autonomous legged platform to run at speeds above one body length per second. The RHex system has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in harsh government test sites. Its performance comes close and in some cases exceeds that of commercial products like PackBot. RHex and its many siblings have demonstrated very interesting applications of real-world robotic designs.
Collaborators
The RHex project collaboration was led by the Kod*Lab (then located within the AI Lab at the University of Michigan). The original concept for RHex was introduced by Martin Buehler (then Director of the Ambulatory Robotics Lab at McGill University, Canada ), inspired by observations about cockroach running offered by Robert Full at the University of California, Berkeley. New sensor-based behaviors arose from the addition to the team of Al Rizzi (then at the CMU Robotics Institute). Philip Holmes at Princeton Unviersity and John Guckenheimer at Cornell University maintained a participation in the RHex effort stemming from their original participation in the Computational Neuromechanics project.
Sponsors
Relevant Publications
2006
- Sensor Data Fusion for Body State Estimation in a Hexapod Robot With Dynamical Gaits
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2006
2005
- Sensor Data Fusion for Body State Estimation for a Hexapod Robot with Dynamical Gaits
Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2005 - A Leg Configuration Measurement System for Full Body Posture Estimates in a Hexapod Robot
IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2005
2004
- Legged Odometry from Body Pose in a Hexapod Robot
Proceedings of 9th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, 2004 - Toward a 6 DOF Body State Estimator for a Hexapod Robot with Dynamical Gaits
Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2004 - Legged Odometry from Body Pose in a Hexapod Robot
Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics vol. 21: Experimental Robotics IX (ISBN: 978–3−540–28816–9), 2004
2003
- A Leg Configuration Sensory System for Dynamical Body State Estimates in a Hexapod Robot
Proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2003
2001
- RHex: A Biologically Inspired Hexapod Runner
Autonomous Robots, 2001, - Proprioception Based Behavioral Advances in a Hexapod Robot
Proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2001
2000
- Robo Sapiens: Evolution of a New Species, by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio MIT Press, (Material
World Books) ISBN: 0262133822
- Evidence for Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum Running in a Hexapod Robot,
International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, 2000
Selected Media Appearances
2008
- 6x6 All-Terrain Vehicle, Prototype This! on Discovery Channel, Nov, 2008
2007
- We’re going the way of the robot, Newsday, February, 2007 (PDF Version)
- Stair-climbing robots introduce young engineers to Penn, The Daily Pennsylvanian, February, 2007 (PDF Version)
2006
- Their robotics STEM from love of science, Philadelphia Daily News, June, 2006 (PDF Version)
- New hunt is on for robot top dog, New Scientist, Apr, 2006 (PDF Version)
2005
- Robert Full: Secrets of movement, from geckos and roaches, TED Talks, Feb, 2005
2003
- Army call-up for rats, robots and reptiles: The US government is ploughing money into unconventional projects to toughen its defences against terrorism, Financial Times, June, 2003 (PDF Version)
- A Bug’s Life for Robots, Economist.com, Mar, 2003 (PDF Version)
2002
- Lowly Roach Inspires High-Tech Robotics, CNN, Sep, 2002 (PDF Version)
- Eurobots - Robotic Niches in Europeans’ Sights, Armed Forces Journal International, Jan, 2002 (PDF Version)
- Robot Locomotion Video, National Geographic, Science Times, July, 2002 (MPG Version Δ)
- Why 6-Legged Bots Rule, Wired.com, Nov, 2002 (PDF Version)
- Trade Secrets of the 6-Legged Set, The Newyork Times, April, 2002 (PDF Version)
- The TED Conference: 3 Days in the Future, The Newyork Times, Feb, 2002 (PDF Version)
- Robert Full: How engineers learn from evolution, TED Talks, Feb, 2002
2001
- Robots take a clue from Nature, Unmanned Systems, Dec, 2001 (PDF Version)
- World of Wildlife III - Locomotion, PBS (U.K.), Partridge Films, Aug, 2001
- Cool Robot of the Week Award, NASA Space Telerobotics Program, May, 2001
2000
- Interview with Peter Jennings, television appearance on ABC World News with Peter Jennings, Apr 15, 2000
- radio interview on Scout II and RHex 0, radio interview on Science in Action in BBC World Service, July 8–9, 2000
- Live TV interview from Place des Arts, with RHex and Scout II, television appearance on This morning live in Montreal Global TV, Aug 8, 2000
- RHex and Scout II, television appearance on Discover Channel Canada, Sep 28–29, 2000
- Biobots, Discover Magazine, Sep, 2000 (PDF Version)
- Building a better Robot, McGill Reporter, Jul, 2000 (PDF Version)
- Better Than Nature Made It, Science Magazine, Apr, 2000 (PDF Version)
- RHex, a new six-legged robot, In Focus, Spring, 2000 (PDF Version)
External Links
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