Could it be that Hamilton wheels have finally met their match in the form of a blind jungle cat?
Meet MIT’s new 90-pound Cheetah 3 robot, engineered to gallop across jagged terrain, dodge obstacles, recover its balance when shoved and even climb stairs—all without using external visual sensors.
Designed to complete tasks that are perfect for exploring disaster zones and other dangerous or inaccessible environments, the Cheetah 3 uses what engineers call “blind locomotion” to feel its way around. Instead of relying on vision, which can slow you down if it’s dark or noisy, the robot relies on tactile information, allowing it to handle unexpected obstacles while moving fast.
Cheetah 3 gets its mojo from two algorithms: one that helps it determine a safe time to commit to a footstep and another that predicts how much force a given leg should apply once it commits to a step. MIT researchers will unveil the robot’s improved capabilities over its Cheetah 2 predecessor in October at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots in Madrid.
If love is blind, we’re smitten, kitten.