HECTOR: A hexapod robot modeled on insects

Even though the field of Robotics is not where it was assumed to be today, this technology has made forays into diverse fields. Be it something as ancient as agriculture or as advanced as space technology, robotics is being used almost everywhere now. Robotics has also found a place in the field of Cognitive Interactions. Researchers at the University of Bielefeld's Center of Excellence 'Cognitive Interaction Technology' (CITEC) have developed HECTOR - a walking six-legged robot that resembles a stick insect. HECTOR, or Hexapod Cognitive autonomously operating robot has been developed with the aim of understanding how animals move and correspondingly how the same technique can be used by hex-pedal robots. For bipedal robots, it is a matter of controlled falling, but for quad-pod or hexapod robots the technique would be different.

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HECTOR is equipped with complete control electronics, sensors, its own processors with each of its six legs having 18 joints which act as muscles as they are made from new type of bio-inspired, self-contained elastic. Subsequently HECTOR has the ability to detect blocks and avoid collisions. The robot also boasts of a carbon-fiber exoskeleton, which allows it to carry a heavy load. The total weight of this one-meter long robot is 12 kg but it can carry a load of 30 kg.

HECTOR currently is being used only as testing grounds for future technologies, but it can have multiple applications in real life. The creators of HECTOR intend to give it the ability to learn and plan ahead that would enable it to navigate unseen territories and carry out exploration tasks without constant supervision.

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Dr. Axel Schneider, one of the creators of Hector, says:

We want to raise this walking idea to a cognitive, intelligent level by bringing in ideas of planning, so the robot can plan ahead what it wants to do. And reasoning when the robot, for example, is trapped in a hole in the ground or whatever; how it makes new plans to escape the situation.

Via: PlasticPal/Gizmag