Researchers develop robot cube that can balance, jump and walk

Researchers have developed a robot cube that can walk, jump and balance itself on a corner.

The 'Cubli' was developed by researchers, led by Mohanarajah Gajamohan and Professor Raffaello D'Andrea, at Switzerland's ETH Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control.

The Cubli can jump up and balance on its corner. Reaction wheels mounted on three faces of the cube rotate at high angular velocities and then brake suddenly, causing the Cubli to jump up.

Once the Cubli has almost reached the corner stand up position, controlled motor torques are applied to make it balance on its corner.

In addition to balancing, the motor torques can also be used to achieve a controlled fall such that the Cubli can be commanded to fall in any arbitrary direction.

Combining these three abilities - jumping up, balancing, and controlled falling - the Cubli is able to 'walk', researchers said.

Earlier this year, the team presented a paper to the 2013 European Control Conference (ECC), held in July in Zurich, 'phys.org' reported.

The paper tracked the development of the cube, described as a 3D-inverted pendulum "with a relatively small footprint."

What makes the cube stand out, researchers said, are two unique features.

First, the device has a small footprint and, second, Cubli can jump up from a resting position without any external support, by suddenly braking its reaction wheels rotating at high speeds, they said.