The Rhex from Boston Dynamics is true to these words, it is not a wheeled or tracked robot but 'n hexapod robot. Well not quite really a hexapod, Rhex got six legs right, but they don't have complicated movements like an insect but has six rotational legs, that are spring loaded.
The Rhex is modelled after a cockroach to mimic the gait of the insects.
Rhex is one tough robot, fall down rocks, walk thru water and can even climb stairs.
Shown here the Rhex can even jump up and over obstacles:
Rhex can quickly adapt to different surfaces, with a heavy footfall on concrete and a light touch on sand and gravel.
Darpa basically funded this project, with the following Universities participated on the initial RHex project:
- The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- University of California, Berkeley, CA
- Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Now for the juicy bits, Rhex can run up to 9,72km/h ( 6 mph ) climb slopes up to 45 degrees and leap over 30cm ditches and flip itself over. Will autonomously follow a line on the ground without any operator control and get this can even walk if 4 of its legs are broken, talk about a tough bot. Rhex comes from a long line of version with each having specific qualities and the latest being a light weight and highly maneuverable.
Weighing in a mere 12,5kg ( 27,5lb ) without batteries and have an endurance of up to 6 hours. The batteries are tactical high voltage batteries and weights only 1,4kg ( 3,1lb ), Rhex takes two of them. Rated at 6,2Ah and 28,8V each making the Rhex actually an efficient robot, to tranverse such a weight range of conditions.
Visit the official Boston Dynamics website at http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_rhex.html
Also the wikipedia site at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhex
For any further info on the Rhex.
Please feel free to leave a comment below, I would like to make this a great blog about robots and your feedback would greatly be appreciated.
