Pogo Jumping Robot Could Rule Low Gravity Worlds [Robots]

Japan, no stranger to work that involves delivering robotics to every facet of human society, thinks it is able to have found out one of the simplest ways for bipedal robots to head on low gravity worlds like the Moon. Enter the pogo stick :

Using a two-footed, high hopping approach, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) believes something resembling the venerable pogo stick, not traditional human locomotion, will be the perfect way for a two-legged robot to traverse the moon.

But why hop? Because, simply, with lower gravity a robot has more time to correct itself during a fall than it can during a bounding run or maybe brisk walk. Falling is something that happens quite frequently here on this planet with bipedal robots, but after you introduce some two-legged, 1.5-meter high hoping to the combination, the robots just do fine (in simulations, anyway).

And why legs at all? Because, as you’ll find with the Mars rovers, sometimes wheeled probes can get stuck, especially in granular sand or regolith as it found on our neighbor the Moon. A hopping bipedal approach would then be just another tool for scientists to take advantage of while exploring the cosmos.

So consider that for today. If lead researcher Atsuo Takanishi at Waseda University in Tokyo has his way, the longer term of space exploration could resemble an inflatable jumpy castle, complete with bipedal robots exploring the celebrities executing graceful 5-ft bounds across alien worlds. [ New Scientist ]

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This post is tagged: bipedal robots, human locomotion, human society, new scientist, space exploration