December 2018^ DISCOVER^9THE CRUX
THE LATEST SCIENCE NEWS AND NOTES
THAT ROBOT FEELING
No eyes are no problem for the dog-sized robot Cheetah 3, which adeptly climbed stairs during a test run at MIT earlier this year.
The 90-pound machine, a creation of mechanical engineer Sangbae Kim and his team, doesn’t need to rely on cameras or other
external sensors. Instead, the robot understands its environment using internal gyroscopes and accelerometers, plus a precise
sense of leg position. Cheetah 3 can leap to a 30-inch platform, navigate irregular terrain and stay balanced if shoved.
ERNIE MASTROIANNI; PHOTO BY MIT BIOMIMETIC ROBOTICS LAB