Table of Contents
Summarised by Centrist
A 20-legged robot developed by Duke University researchers may change how scientists think about robot design, moving away from machines modelled on humans, dogs or insects and toward forms based on mathematical symmetry.
The robot, named Argus, has no front or back and can move in any direction.
Argus has 20 telescoping legs arranged around a central body, with a depth camera at each leg tip. The researchers named it after the all-seeing monster from Greek mythology.
The design allows the robot to stabilise itself after being pushed, cross rough terrain, carry a 4.5kg payload and climb walls.
“Watching Argus move is unlike watching any other robot we’ve worked with,” said Jiaxun Liu, a Duke doctoral student and co-author of the study.
The team arrived at the design after running more than 1,500 simulations of different robot shapes. Instead of copying an animal, they tested how evenly a robot could move and react in every direction, a concept called dynamic isotropy.
“When a robot can accelerate equally well in every direction, it stops needing to face the world in any particular way,” said Boyuan Chen, director of Duke’s General Robotics Lab.
Most robots, including four-legged robots, humanoids and conventional drones, scored below 0.6 on the researchers’ dynamic isotropy scale. Argus scored 0.91, close to the theoretical maximum.
In outdoor tests, the robot crossed concrete, grass, dense foliage, soft sand, wet surfaces and bark. It handled obstacles up to 12.7cm tall and kept moving after three legs were broken.
