Mobile robots are often weighed down by gasoline engines and hydraulic transmissions. Now scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a model, powered by a lithium-polymer battery, that weighs only 70 pounds and keeps going—for at least 90 minutes in treadmill tests. Just don't expect speed yet.
The team designed high-torque electric motors, which partly rely on energy from leg strikes against the ground, and centered the motors and gears at the hip joints, thereby permitting lightweight legs. The robot travels at 5 miles per hour, which the MIT scientists are hoping to increase to 35.
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