Disney’s human-scale ‘Stickman’ robot can do backflips

29 May 2018 POSTED BY Vishal

Just as certain human inventions take after nature (like body armor), it seems as if robots can take after humans. During a full backflip maneuver, Stickman swings from a ceiling-mounted wire 19.6 feet (six meters) above ground, tucks into a ball at peak height, and executes the stunt.

Stretched out, Stickman measures seven feet tall or as the Disney Research paper puts it, “to approximate the height of a human stunt performer with arms raised over his or her head” — although, it’s worth noting most gymnasts are nowhere near seven feet tall.

You can see Stickman successfully backflip (and also fail) in the video below.

Inertial motion sensing, a trio of laser rangefinders, and computer vision enable Stickman to pull off these stunts, but also ensure its safety by landing onto a mat.It’s not much now, but the possibility of robot gymnastics and parkour is, in fact, becoming a reality.

Source : The Verge