Oregon State University’s DARPA-funded ATRIAS is a super-fast bipedal robot which is currently in training to become the fastest bipedal robot in the world.
The bot, which researchers claim is modeled after ground-running birds such as chickens, utilizes four lightweight carbon-fiber legs mounted to a spring suspension system reminiscent of that which is employed by ordinary pogo sticks: a spring mass-system.
Robot expert and associate professor at OSU Engineering Jonathan Hurst was quoted by KWG as having said that “it will be the fastest robot in the world” once “it gets up to speed for walking, not even running”.
When this robot gets up to speed for walking, not even running yet, it will be the fastest bipedal robot in the world
While the bird-like robot is currently training for the upcoming DARPA robotics challenge in June, the researchers behind the project have been publishing videos which show the bot in action.
ATRIAS, who has a Twitter account which is updated regularly with progress reports, is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).
In a tweet published yesterday at 4:13 p.m., the bot implored onlookers to not get jealous after witnessing its brand new runway and acknowledging the fact that it can now “walk over a dozen steps” on its own.
My brand new runway. Now I can walk over a dozen steps on my own! Don’t look so #jealous, humans. #newdigs #robotics pic.twitter.com/hYlf4JFk0I
— ATRIAS (@ATRIASrobot) March 15, 2015
In one video released by researchers at the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory at OSU, ATRIAS gets pummeled with dodgeballs until a lucky strike hits the emergency shutdown button and disables the bot. In yet another video, the bot can be seen getting the boot as it’s hit with karate kicks, but after the tests, the bot appears to demonstrate a sense of impeccable balance.
Just how fast do you think ATRIAS can run?