ETH Zurich reveals new robotic control approach

Led by ETH Zurich robotics professor Marco Hutter, the team’s machine learning technology, based on a neural network, allows the robot to combine its visual perception of the environment with its sense of touch (proprioception) for the first time, based on direct leg contact.

The above video shows how ANYmal can move through a series of challenging environments, including the path up the 1,098m high Mount Etzel at the southern end of Lake Zurich. 

Overcoming obstacles such as slippery ground, high steps and forest trails, the quadrupedal robot from ETH Zurich’s Robotic Systems Lab navigated the 120 vertical metres ‘effortlessly’ in a 31 minute hike, the team said — four minutes faster than the estimated duration for human hikers — with no falls or missteps.

Published in Science Robotics, the team’s findings could make ANYmal suitable for use in situations too dangerous for humans or too impassable for other robots, such as forest fires or earthquake aftermath.