Remember LEONARDO? The drone/bipedal robot from 2019? Fast forward to last year, LEONARDO has been improved, both in the looks department and in functionality.
For the uninitiated, LEONARDO stands for LEgs ONboARD drONE, or just LEO. I know the acronym is a bit of a stretch but it is what it is.
LEO is 2.5 feet (76.2 cm) tall and it has a pair of legs with three actuated joints. In addition, it has four propeller thrusters mounted at an angle at the robot’s shoulders. This setup allows LEO to walk much like a person.
However, the inspiration is not from humans; LEONARDO is inspired by how birds are able to flap and hop to maintain balance on telephone lines.
Back in 2019, the researchers over at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) showed that LEO is capable of walking, hopping, and flying. Last year, LEO demonstrated that it can walk a slackline, perfectly balancing itself using its arm rotors and that it can skateboard too.
You can see LEONARDO in action in the video embedded below. You can also learn more about LEONARDO’s latest development in an article published on the Caltech website.
Images: Caltech.
via YouTube (CNET).
