Run RABBIT run

A Franco-American team of researchers has created a robot capable of remaining upright when pushed.

University of Michigan and French scientists developed the machine, dubbed RABBIT, over six years. It's the first known robot to walk and balance like a human, and late last year, researchers succeeded in making RABBIT run for six steps. It has been able to walk gracefully for the past 18 months.

U-M researcher Jessy Grizzle, who developed the control theory for the robot, said that the balancing ability programmed into the robot has many applications in the medical field, such as so-called smart prosthetics that adapt to the wearer, and physical rehabilitation aids to help people regain the ability to walk.

Bipedal robots, or two-legged walking machines, in existence today walk flat-footed, with an unnatural crouching or stomping gait, said Grizzle, professor of electrical engineering and computer science.

Up until RABBIT, scientists produced stability in two-legged walking machines largely through extensive trial and error experiments during development, Grizzle said. Current walking machines use large feet to avoid tipping over and do not require the robot's control system to be endowed with a real understanding of the mechanics of walking or balance, Grizzle said. If you provided these robots with a pair of stilts or asked them to tiptoe across the room, they would just fall over.