If you have ever been to the circus or a Cirque du Soleil performance, you have probably marveled at the acrobatic abilities of the performers.
Disney Research is looking to mimic the acrobatic techniques humans have been practicing for thousands of years, but in robots.
The tucking motion of the Stickman robot. Source: Disney ResearchThe project is called Stickman, which is a simple two degrees of freedom robot that uses a gravity-driven pendulum launch to produce a variety of somersaulting stunts. As robots become more mobile and autonomous, the goal of the project is to see if robots can mimic the stunts of humans in dramatic and informative ways.
The robot uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and three laser range finders to estimate its state mid-flight and then actuates to change its motion both on and off the pendulum. After detaching from the pendulum, an on-board microprocessor integrates the signals from a gyroscope to estimate the rotation of Stickman’s top weight, when the range finders are in-line with the ground, the microprocessor generates the height data and how much range of motion the robot can do before hitting the ground.
In the video, the robot is seen doing tucking and untucking actions as it is launched off the pendulum allowing it to do a single backflip, a double backflip and a freefalling motion.
For the full research, click here.
