{"id":2211,"date":"2012-07-24T15:46:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-24T20:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.dankohn.info\/?p=2211"},"modified":"2020-08-17T17:54:24","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T17:54:24","slug":"mabel-bipedal-robot-is-fast-enough-to-run-you-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dankohn.info\/index.php\/2012\/07\/24\/mabel-bipedal-robot-is-fast-enough-to-run-you-down\/","title":{"rendered":"MABEL Bipedal Robot is Fast Enough to Run You Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

from: IEEE Spectrum<\/a>
\nPosted Tue, Aug 16, 2011
\nby Evan Ackerman<\/p>\n

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It was only a year ago that the University of Michigan’s MABEL biped robot was breaking its ankles trying to walk over rough terrain. Now the robot is defying death once again by becoming the world’s fastest bipedal robot, with the ability to sprint at up to 10.9 kph. More specifically, MABEL is the world’s fastest “kneed” bipedal robot, which just means that it’s the fastest robot that can run in a similar manner to us humans, leaving those Toyota robots (4.3 kph) and ASIMO (3.7 kph) in the dust.<\/p>\n

MABEL is capable of such blistering speeds thanks to an innovative mechanical design which, although it may not look like it, incorporates a lot of the characteristics of a human runner. For example, MABEL has a torso that’s substantially heavier than its legs, just like a human, and it’s also got a system of springs that act like tendons. This gives MABEL a very human-like, bouncing gait, and the robot spends 40% of its time running in a “flight phase” with both feet off the ground, similar to humans:<\/p>\n