2023-06-27 17:00:14
A team from Northeastern University (Boston, USA) has designed a robot that can move through various environments, both by land and by air. To do this, the automaton transforms its appendages from wheels to propellers and from legs to hands. The results are detailed today in the magazine Nature Communications.
Technically christened the M4, but nicknamed Morphobotthe invention has been designed for multiple fields of application, among them, “Mars explorations, automated delivery of packages in residential areas, as well as search and rescue work after natural catastrophes”, he explains to SINC Alireza Ramezani, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the American university and lead author of the paper. In addition, the findings may also be useful for improving devices already intended for these specific uses.
Morphobot is capable of transforming its appendages from wheels to thrusters and from legs to hands
Researchers have been inspired by animals such as birds, meerkats and seals to create this robot. Some species can adapt the use of their limbs to deal with different terrains.
For example, sea lions can walk on land with flippersmeerkats stand on their hind limbs to explore their environment, and chukar birds can use their wings to climb steep slopes on all fours.
“We are curious to understand how birds, despite their small body size, show numerous modes of mobility”, declares Ramezani. “Copying the locomotion of birds poses significant challenges.”
The automaton imitates the locomotion of some animals. / Eric Sihite/Nature Communications
Mimicking the reusability of animal limbs, mobile robots can be designed with multifunctional limbs that allows them to adapt their movement strategies to complex spaces.
The automaton is able to fly, roll, crawl, crouch and somersault
Under this premise, the scientific team developed this robot that can move with versatility for different environments. Morphobot flies, rolls, crawls, crouches, balances and somersaults. This allows you walk over rough terraintraversing steep inclines, overcoming large obstacles or traversing low-ceilinged trails.
Ramezani and his colleagues have had to face a series of difficulties to achieve the final design. “Comply with the contradictory requirements imposed by the different modes of locomotion on a single platform is a huge challenge”, highlights the engineer. “Terrestrial robots need bulky componentswhile the aerial ones require light structures. Integrating these requirements into a single device can be quite a challenge.”
The robot can fly, roll, crawl, crouch and somersault. / Eric Sihite/Nature Communications
Morphobot has four legs with two joints each and fans at the ends. With a weight of six kilos, it measures 70 centimeters in length and 35 in height, width and height. Additionally, the fans can function as legs, propellers, or wheels.
Integrating all the requirements of the different modes of locomotion in a single platform is quite a challenge.
Alireza Ramezani, lead author of the study
Researchers still have several steps to go before apply the invention to real life. As one of its uses is intended to be explorations on Mars, “we need to improve space resistance, that is, it must be able to operate in hostile environments”, notes Ramezani.
In any case, the results obtained so far demonstrate the advantages of designing robots with multi-purpose appendages to navigate varied and difficult terrain, the authors point out.
Reference:
Ramezani, A. “Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot (M4) with appendage repurposing for locomotion plasticity enhancement” Nature Communications (2023)
Rights: Creative Commons.
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