Swiss company Swiss-Mile has taught a four-legged wheeled robot ANYmal to stand on the rear wheels. As reported by New Atlas, this version of ANYmal is designed to work in delivery. Standing on the rear wheels, the robot will be able to pick up parcels from customers and put them in its cargo compartment.
The two main types of robots by design of motor mechanisms are wheeled and walking. Wheeled ones can move quickly, and walking ones can overcome obstacles and walk on difficult terrain. In some machines, engineers use these two mechanisms of movement. For example, a two-wheeled robot Handle or a two-legged robot Cassie on gyro rollers . Often this approach leads to reduced efficiency in both driving modes.
The ANYmal robot was developed at the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich to experiment with various control algorithms, for example, allowing it to dance to music. This is a classic four-legged robot that can move its legs in almost any direction due to 12 electric motors. One of the modifications of ANYmal has wheels with electric motors attached to the legs. She can move forward on wheels, turn with the help of steps, and also step over obstacles.
The Swiss-Mile company, which was founded by engineers from the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich, in December introduced another modification of ANYmal. It has both wheels and legs, just like the other version of the robot. But ANYmal from Swiss-Mile can stand and ride on the rear wheels.
The developers believe that this will be useful for him to work in delivery. He will pick up the parcels, standing on his hind legs, put them in the cargo compartment, and then go back down on four wheels and deliver them quickly. ANYmal is able to reach speeds of up to 22.32 kilometers per hour and carry up to 50 kilograms.
Swiss-Mile plans that its ANYmal will go on sale next year. It is not yet known how much the robot will cost.
ANYmal has other modifications. For example, a four-legged robot protected from water ingress. He can dive into the water to a depth of up to a meter and spend up to half an hour there.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
