Robotics

Mugatu bipedal robot takes a radically simplified approach to walking

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The Mugatu robot is one example of what is known as a "passive dynamic walker"
Carnegie Mellon University
Mugatu is powered by a single lithium-polymer battery and controlled by an onboard Arduino MKRZero microcomputer
Carnegie Mellon University
The Mugatu robot is one example of what is known as a "passive dynamic walker"
Carnegie Mellon University

Walking bipedal robots excel at tasks such as traversing uneven terrain, but because they're so mechanically complex, they can't be made very small. That could soon change, however, thanks to the development of the Mugatu robot.

Created by a team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, Mugatu utilizes a walking mechanism which consists of just two rigid legs that are both moved by a single shared motor. And while the robot currently stands 18.5 cm high (7.3 in), plans call for the technology to ultimately be incorporated into bipedal robots that are the size of a Lego Minifigure (about 4 cm/1.6 in tall).

Mugatu was actually inspired by a different type of toy, known as the Wilson Walkie. These unpowered wooden figures from the 1930s have swinging legs with large feet on the bottom. When one of the figures is placed at the top of a ramp, the force of gravity causes the toy to walk down to the bottom by shuffling its legs back and forth.

In the case of Mugatu – which can't always be walking down ramps – gravity is replaced by an oscillating hip motor.

Mugatu is powered by a single lithium-polymer battery and controlled by an onboard Arduino MKRZero microcomputer
Carnegie Mellon University

The robot begins by standing still, with both legs side-by-side. Its motor then swings its left leg forward. As this happens, the bot's center of gravity shifts toward that leg, causing the robot to pitch forward and roll onto its left foot.

By doing so, Mugatu creates enough clearance for its right leg to then swing forward and past the left, which it does. The robot thus then pitches forward and rolls onto its right foot, after which the process is repeated over and over again.

Turning to the left or right is managed by simply swinging one leg faster or over a longer distance than the other. This capability sets Mugatu apart from other small experimental bipedal robots – or even toy robots, for that matter – that can only walk straight ahead.

The scientists, led by professors Aaron Johnson and Sarah Bergbreiter, are now working on scaling the system down. They hope it may one day be utilized in tiny walking robots that could perform tasks such as searching for survivors trapped under disaster site rubble, or inspecting the insides of machines.

You can see Mugatu in action, in the video below.

Source: Carnegie Mellon University

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5 comments
yawood
Very interesting, but I would have thought that this will only walk properly on a flat surface. Because of the lack of joints in the legs, it would not be able to lift a leg over an obstacle. I'd imagine that this would hamper any use in rescue operations.
Spud Murphy
Hardly new, when I was a kid many years ago I had a toy robot with the same system. Amazing that people got paid to reinvent this exact same system.
Ric
Having trouble seeing how this robot would be able to navigate uneven terrain..
see3d
I had a cheap plastic windup toy a couple of inches tall that walked somewhat like this. That was about 60 years ago. For disaster inspections, my money would be on a robotic snake.
Rivegauche610
Wish someone had explained the origin of the robot’s name. It was an episode from Star Trek: The Original Series in which Kirk, dressed as an indigenous person, is bitten by a cheesy monster called a ”Mugatu.”