World’s Smallest Self-Powered Bipedal Robot Sets Speed Record with Simple Design

A miniature robot named Zippy has set a new benchmark in robotics by becoming the world’s smallest self-powered bipedal robot, capable of walking, turning, skipping, and climbing steps using only its onboard battery, actuator, and control system.

Credit: Carnegie Mellon University, College of Engineering

Standing at less than one and a half inches talll—about the height of a LEGO minifigure—Zippy can walk faster than a half mile per hour and achieves a speed equivalent to 10 leg lengths per second.

Developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the robot is part of a project led by Professors Aaron Johnson and Sarah Bergbreiter. The initiative aims to explore locomotion at small scales to create more capable miniature walking robots.

Johnson, a professor of mechanical engineering, said two-legged robots are better suited for navigating uneven terrain and obstacles in human-designed environments. The team focused on simplifying walking mechanisms to make such robots more practical.

Zippy was designed by undergraduate students Soma Narita and Josef Macera, building on the team’s earlier steerable bipedal robot, Mugatu. Zippy uses a single actuator at the hip and rounded feet to walk by shifting its centre of gravity forward.

Due to its small size, Zippy employs a mechanical hard stop as a joint limit instead of a servo. This design enables it to move at speeds comparable to a human running at 19 miles per hour, making it the fastest power-autonomous bipedal robot by leg-length speed ratio.

Steven Man, one of the lead authors presenting the research at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, highlighted the robot’s potential for use in tight or hazardous spaces. Possible applications include emergency search and rescue, industrial inspection, and scientific exploration in geologically challenging areas.

The team plans to equip Zippy with sensors such as cameras to enable autonomous navigation and localisation. This would allow multiple units to operate as a coordinated swarm in complex environments.

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• Zippy is the world’s smallest self-powered bipedal robot at under 4 cm tall

• It walks at over 0.8 km/h and achieves 10 leg lengths per second

• Developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers and students

Source: TechXplore