Sep 17, 2016 @ 13:39 |
Ghost Minitaur is a patent-pending medium-sized legged robot highly adept at perceiving tactile sensations
Ghost Robotics, LLC, a leader in research and development of legged, direct-drive and proprioceptive robotics technologies announced on 14th September 2016 that it has launched its first patent-pending direct-drive legged robot platform, Ghost Minitaur™.
Founded by University of Pennsylvania PhD candidates, Avik De and Gavin Kenneally, Ghost Robotics is researching and building next-generation legged robots that are superior to wheeled and tracked autonomous vehicles in many field applications. The companies underlying research and intellectual property have additional applications in surgery, lab operations, healthcare and advanced gait research. The company launched October 2015 and is backed by the University of Pennsylvania and PCI Ventures, which incubate Penn’s leading research and innovations.
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What is new in Ghost Minitaur?
Ghost Minitaur is the first direct-drive legged robot using conventional rotary electric motors
Ghost Minitaur is a patent-pending medium-sized legged robot highly adept at perceiving tactile sensations. Its high-torque brushless outrunner motors and specialized leg design let this machine run and jump over difficult terrain. High-speed and high-resolution encoders let the machine see the ground through the motors and adapt faster than the blink of an eye.
“We are extremely excited to be launching our first commercial robot platform, Ghost Minitaur,” said Gavin Kenneally, Co-founder of Ghost Robotics. “This has been a long journey in the conceptualization and development of the robot, and we see many applications for the platform ahead and underlying technology,” added Avik De, Co-founder.
Features
- Easy to use: the robot can be driven around by joystick out of the box, using different gaits.
- Versatile legged machine: the 2DOF legs are good for more than just running. They can sense and exert precise forces, and do basic manipulation.
- Sensor integration: industry-standard Picatinny rails and onboard SPI, I2C and UART ensure that additional sensors can enable autonomy.
- Unique: Minitaur is the first direct-drive legged robot using conventional rotary electric motors.
Performance
- Running speed: 2.0 m/s
- Turning speed: 1 rad/s
- Sideways crabbing speed: 0.04 m/s
- Vertical jump displacement: 0.48 m
Size
- Length (hip to hip): 0.4 m
- Width (toe to toe, standing height): 0.28 m
- Mass: 6 kg
- Payload: 3kg
- Endurance: 20 minutes (heavy use)
Application areas
- Gait Research: the four 2DOF legs can be programmed with a wide variety of gaits (including bounding, pronking, walking, and trotting) to explore the tradeoffs of efficiency and power at various speeds and with different payloads
- Sensor Platform: in addition to the internal IMU and excellent proprioception, Minitaur is an great sensor platform capable of moving sensors around in the environment as well as controlling the field of view
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Keywords: Ghost Minitaur, tactile sensations, brushless motors, direct-drive, Gaits
- Image: Ghost Robotics