Disney research: getting a bipedal robot to follow an animation path - General

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aqlosnp8nE[/media] Disneyland is one step closer to producing walking killing machines.

[QUOTE=Ithon;47882731]Disneyland is one step closer to producing walking killing machines.[/QUOTE] This reminds me of that treehouse of horror episode with the Itchy and Scratchy theme park.

That looks janky as fuck.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;47884866]That looks janky as fuck.[/QUOTE] "I've made a robot with cerebral palsy!" "Why?"

It's a nightmare creature, it stalks the park late at night, eating small children whole and holding them in it's giant stomach.

What compelled them to have such a fucked up leg system

Walking is actually hard as shit. And our perspective of "proper" walking is due to us being rather good at our locomotion via controlled falling.

[QUOTE=Kill Me No;47885268]Walking is actually hard as shit. And our perspective of "proper" walking is due to us being rather good at our locomotion via controlled falling.[/QUOTE] And because we have legs based on muscles instead of axles. Walking for a robot isn't an AI problem as much as it is a mechanics/sensory problem. That's why it's so much easier to program a computer simulation to learn how to walk.

The biggest issue with animatronics is that we don't have motors that can move fast enough or with enough precision to create believable motion. It's often a trade off since the faster you move the motor, the longer it takes and the harder it is to stop.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;47884866]That looks janky as fuck.[/QUOTE] 'baby steps', it's in part from the servos. [QUOTE=Splash Attack;47887761]The biggest issue with animatronics is that we don't have motors that can move fast enough or with enough precision to create believable motion. It's often a trade off since the faster you move the motor, the longer it takes and the harder it is to stop.[/QUOTE] I would say it's more of a price point, stuff out of boston dynamics and certain universities have shown good results.

Is it supposed to be pooh bear?

janky or not, it's still progress. give it a few more years and disney could be animating audio-animatronics like CGI characters

Imagine if a Gundam moved like this.

But will they give it a cheesy name like Audio Animatronic Mark II?

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;47885376]And because we have legs based on muscles instead of axles. Walking for a robot isn't an AI problem as much as it is a mechanics/sensory problem. That's why it's so much easier to program a computer simulation to learn how to walk.[/QUOTE] isn't there any mechanical muscle that can be used instead? Like a material that contracts on electric impulse?

[QUOTE=uitham;47890431]isn't there any mechanical muscle that can be used instead? Like a material that contracts on electric impulse?[/QUOTE] If you look at the way real muscles work it's pretty evident that they'd be near impossible to emulate using mechanics. [thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/1006_Sliding_Filament_Model_of_Muscle_Contraction.jpg[/thumb] To put it in laymen's terms, A skeletal muscle cell is full of a bunch of little "grabby bits" (Myosin) that, when given ATP (energy source), grab onto the double helix looking thing (Actin) and pull it inward. This is what causes the muscle cell to contract. This happens on the molecular level, and there are BILLIONS of those little cells in one muscle. [thumb]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/1007_Muscle_Fibes_%28large%29.jpg[/thumb] Unless we somehow find some polymer that is much simpler and easy to make which stretches due to a completely different mechanism, we have no chance of making mechanical muscles any time in the near future. It's unfeasible.

[QUOTE=uitham;47890431]isn't there any mechanical muscle that can be used instead? Like a material that contracts on electric impulse?[/QUOTE] This exists but its not ready yet. Look up carbon nanotube actuators

[QUOTE=uitham;47890431]isn't there any mechanical muscle that can be used instead? Like a material that contracts on electric impulse?[/QUOTE] you can move pretty quickly with regular motors, but bipedal and quadroped robots are moving to a actuators that have a spring in it as you would call it like muscles do. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3aVKo90Bs[/media] But it's not closer to what helix snake is talking about. That field is still a maybe or no way. What you saw in the disney video was off the shelf parts which probably came from a hobbyist bipedal robot kit.