Free-standing two-legged robot conquers terrain

MARLO, the 3D bipedal robot that belongs to electrical engineering professor Jessy Grizzle and his team of students, is starting to really figure out this walking thing. Here, robotics PhD student Ross Hartley watches as MARLO demonstrate's her ability to conquer tough terrain. Image credit: Evan Dougherty, Michigan EngineeringANN ARBOR--An unsupported bipedal robot at the University of Michigan can now walk down steep slopes, through a thin layer of snow, and over uneven and unstable ground. The robot's feedback control algorithms should be able to help other two-legged robots as well as powered prosthetic legs gain similar capabilities. "The robot has no feeling in her tiny feet, but she senses the angles of her joints--for instance, her knee angles, hip angles and the rotation angle of her torso," said Jessy Grizzle, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of mechanical engineering.