Stanford Students Develop An Inexpensive Robo Dog That Can Perform Acrobatics
The advancements in Robotics have made the field more accessible to enthusiasts. As per fresh news, students at Stanford University have designed a four-legged robotic dog that can perform acrobatic tricks and overcome challenging terrains. But the most interesting part is the fact that the robot can easily be reproduced with readily available parts. The dog has been named the “Stanford Doggo” and has been made freely available online, albeit in a different way.
Cost Of Developing The Robotic Doggo
As per the Stanford Student Robotics Club’s Extreme Mobility Team, the cost of developing conventional robots can range anywhere between tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. On the other hand, the Stanford Doggo can be manufactured under US$ 3000, and this includes manufacturing and shipping costs. Almost all the components required for manufacturing the Doggo can be purchased online. The students expect that this will enable researchers and robotics enthusiasts to develop innovative projects the way they want.
The Stanford Doggo is similar to a regular-sized Beagle in terms of size, and it can walk, trot and dance with ease. More complex actions include jumping, hopping and performing backflips. Since the students built up the robotic dog from scratch, a lot of time had to be devoted in order to test each part of the Doggo. Moreover, the students did not rely on any form of simulations during the development of the robot, making it even more difficult to predict results.
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The Doggo has motors that can sense external forces and then calculate how much force should be exerted by each leg. As per reports, the motors recompute input data at over 8000 times a second. The motors work together in the form of virtual springs, which allows the Doggo to jump up to 3.5 feet above the ground. The team of students will present the Stanford Doggo at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation on May 21 in Montreal, Canada.
