Robotics at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) have shared a picture of the experimental area and preliminary validations of the world’s first jet-powered humanoid robot.
The humanoid robot, which is called iRONCub, is equipped with four compact jet engines which grant it the ability to fly and carry out advanced missions. The researchers think the ability to fly may benefit these robots in the applications, which includes disaster relief, as it is currently an unknown area of research for humanoids.
The experiment was planned for 2021, but the team had faced minor challenges during the testing because they struggled to prevent the robot from setting fire or even exploding due to engine exhaust.
The team has developed prototypes of the iRonCub which were built on the iCub v2.5 and 3.0 platforms. The iCub is a research-grade humanoid robot created by IIT, designed to help develop and test embodied AI algorithms. The iCub has 53-degree freedom, nine in each hand and in the upper torso. It is equipped with full-body skin, force/torque sensors, cameras, microphones, gyros (Angular Rate Sensors), accelerometers, and encoders in ach joint.
Both versions of the iRonCub have features of four jet engines, two that are mounted on the arms and two on the jetpack attached to the robots back. Now experiments are focused on the iRonCub version 3.
iRonCub3 is equipped with jet engines, which are weighing at 154 pounds (70kg). The turbine generates a maximum thrust of over 1000N, and the exhaust temperature that can exceed 600 degrees Celsius.
The team is currently working in a new iRonCub3 in a new developed flight control area, ensuring the progress on the work that was done on the iRonCub2. iRonCub3 has added advancements over its predecessor. This version has removed tendons and added force torque sensors into the jetpacks, new electronic that have been designed, and control systems and planners are operating at a higher frequency.
Algorithms were designed for the flight control for it to manage the robot’s attitude and position, while adding Quadratic Programming optimization. The researchers have said the framework is adaptive to any numbers of jet turbines and ensures compliances. Thermodynamics plays a role with the turbine exhaust gases reaching around 800 degrees Celsius and the speed of sounds.
The Aerodynamics of a multi-body system requires neural networks with physics-informed components for real-time evaluation. Controller settings must have high and low bandwidth actuators, including joints and turbines. While the Planners are tasked with generative trajectories for both motor dynamics and turbines. These improvements and enhances show the robot’s capabilities and performance.
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