Robot with 20 legs and 20 eyes gives "bug" in traditional robotic concept

Researchers at Duke University in the United States have developed an unusual-looking robot that could change the way autonomous machines are designed in the future. Called Argus, the equipment completely abandons the traditional concept of symmetry used in most current robots.

The robot has 20 telescopic legs and 20 cameras distributed around the body, with no clear definition of front, back, left or right. According to researchers, this structure allows it to move easily in practically any direction, in addition to traversing uneven terrain and better resisting collisions and damage.

Argus was developed based on a concept called "dynamic symmetry", which proposes to evaluate the robot's movement capacity in all directions, and not just the shape of the body.

"Most robotics research addresses symmetry as a body-related issue, but we argue that the most powerful symmetry lies at the level of what the robot is capable of doing," said research leader Professor Boyuan Chen.

According to scientists, the robot can accelerate and move in different directions without needing to reposition itself first, something unusual in traditional models.

The structure of the Argus was inspired by a dodecahedron, a geometric solid with twelve faces, and distributes the legs around the body to generate uniform movement forces.

In addition to locomotion, each of the legs has its own depth camera, allowing the robot to have a kind of "whole body vision".

"The first time we saw it navigate through trees and rough terrain, even under strong collisions, we knew it was something different," said Jiaxun Liu, co-author of the study.

According to the researchers, the system can help in the development of more efficient robots for operations in extreme environments, rescue missions and autonomous exploration.

Source: CNN