Futuristic Exoskeleton Keeps Clumsy Robot from Falling Over

Hermes the robot. — Meet Hermes, MIT's bipedal robot.

(Image credit: Tony Pulsone/MIT)

Like an angry ninja, a robot karate-chops a wooden plank, punches through drywall, smashes soda cans and kicks over a trash bin blocking its path in a new video from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The two-legged machine isn't really a troublemaker. In fact, it's not actually in control of its own actions. A researcher standing a few feet away from the bot keeps the machine's every move in check with the help of an exoskeleton — a sort of mechanical belt with armrests that the researcher wears around his waist and upper body.

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But the balance-feedback interface developed at MIT could give bipedal bots the sturdiness they need to stay upright and, eventually, complete difficult tasks in the real world. The hope is that these so-called "humanoid" robots will one day be able to do work that's dangerous for humans — things like sifting through debris after an earthquake or putting out a fire, according to Joao Ramos, a doctorate student of mechanical engineering who is working on MIT's new human-machine interface. (He's also the one seen controlling Hermes in the video.)

“The processing of images is typically very slow [for a robot], so a robot has difficulty reacting in time,” Ramos said in a statement. “Instead, we’d like to use the human’s natural reflexes and coordination. An example is walking, which is just a process of falling and catching yourself. That’s something that feels effortless to us, but it’s challenging to program into a robot to do it both dynamically and efficiently."

To help the robot master these kinds of movements, the researchers first had to figure out the 100-pound (45 kilograms) bot's tipping point, so to speak. To do this, they put load sensors on both of the robot's feet. These sensors measured the force exerted by each foot on the ground and were used to calculate the bot's center of pressure, or how it shifted its weight, as it performed different tasks.

So far, the interface has kept the bot from tumbling over as it punches through drywall and received repeated hits on its torso from a hammer. Next, the researchers would like to move on to more challenging tasks, such as having the bot swing an ax and open a spring-loaded door. These are the sorts of tasks that are particularly tough for bots to complete without falling over, according to Wang. But it might be easier for bots to do these jobs now that they have help from reflex-ready humans.