We’ve seen fast, nimble self-balancing wheeled robots. We’ve also seen robots that can grab and carry objects. However, evoBOT could prove particularly useful as he combines both traits into one clever machine.
Designed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in Germany, the prototype evoBOT stays upright utilizing what is known as the mobile inverted pendulum principle. Simply put, this means that the bottom of the robot is constantly moving back and forth in order to keep the top weight centered on the robot.
The evoBOT has two legs with motorized wheels at the bottom and two arms with inward-facing disc-shaped grip pads at each end, but can be equipped with other types of grippers. When the robot is holding nothing, the arms fold and sit next to the legs. It can then lean forward and roll at speeds of up to 10 meters (32.8 feet) per second.
Fraunhofer IML
Dual optical cameras and other sensors and mapping systems allow the robot to navigate autonomously through environments such as warehouses while avoiding obstacles, climbing ramps, over small ledges, and across uneven terrain. You can It can also be stretched horizontally and shortened if necessary. This configuration has a powered wheel in the back and a non-powered caster wheel in front on the underside of the extended arm.
When evoBOT reaches the target object, it grabs the item with its arms on either side of the object and moves it inwards until enough pressure is applied to lift the grip pads. Bots carry objects to warehouses and locations where they are in use, and release items when they reach their destination.
As an added bonus, the robot can also grab unpowered wheeled items such as trolleys and push or pull them from place to place.
Plans call for evoBOT to serve as a testbed for new self-balancing robotic technology, although it could also be manufactured commercially as a product itself. You can see it in action in the video below.
Transportroboter »evoBOT«
Source: Fraunhofer via IEEE Spectrum
