Cheetah Robot

It’s a robot not like any other. It was inspired by the world’s fastest

land animal. The robot is controlled by video game technology and

contains sensors. The sensors include one used to control drones,

satellites, and missiles.

The robot, called the cheetah, can run on batteries at speeds of more

than 10 mph. It can also jump about 16 inches high, land safely, and

continue galloping for at least 15 minutes. All the while, it uses less

power than a microwave oven.

It’s the creation of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology in Cambridge. They had to design key elements from scratch.

Those elements include powerful, lightweight motors and electronics that control the power for its 12 motors. They also include a process

that decides how hard each leg should hit the ground when the robot is running. It’s the key to helping the robot keep its balance and speed. An onboard computer organizes data from the sensors and sends commands to each motor.

”This is kind of a Ferrari1 in the robotics world, like, we have to put all

the expensive components and make it really that instinctive,” said MIT professor Sangbae Kim, who leads the school’s robotics lab that designed the robot. “That’s the only way to get that speed.”

What they learn from the design of their prototype could have real world uses. Some of the uses include the design of advanced artificial body parts, wearable tech products, and all-terrain wheelchairs and vehicles that can travel easily on rough surfaces, the way animals do, Kim said. They hope the robot can be used in search-and-rescue operations in dangerous areas, where it’s too risky to send a human rescuer.

“When the robot is running, at every step, we calculate the appropriate amount of the force to the legs so that the robot can balance itself,” said MIT research scientist Hae-Won Park. Park created the complicated process used to control the mechanical cheetah, which weighs about 70 pounds—almost the same as a female cheetah cat.

Sensors inside the robot measure the angle of the leg. That information is sent to an onboard computer that also organizes data from the Inertial Measurement Unit, or IMU. The IMU is also used to control drones and missiles, Park said.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is paying for the project. The military research arm is also paying for a similar robot being developed by Boston Dynamics. That company says its version is powered by an offboard pump and uses a device to keep the robot running in the center of the treadmill.

Creating the cheetah robot took five years of designing, testing, tweaking, and plenty of confidence. Researchers had to ignore those

people who said electric motors aren’t strong enough to drive a running mechanical cheetah powered by batteries.

Researchers had to be very patient during test runs. The robot brokedozens of legs that had been manufactured by 3D printers and made strong with special fibers.

The results?

Sturdy, lightweight parts that made untethered3 running possible. The parts included a carbon fiber-and-foam sandwich frame that can absorb

the forces created by running and jumping.

Some of the parts include an Xbox controller for guiding the robot and wireless Internet communications for sending commands to the mechanical cheetah. These off-the-shelf parts came in handy.

Each leg is driven by three motors that can create powerful forces at slow speeds.

Still, researchers continue to tweak their prototype. They are looking to add additional sensors that would in time make the robot self-running.

“In the next ten years, our goal is we are trying to make this robot to save a life,” Kim said.