If you bet everything on Mbappé at the 2022 World Cup, you might want to take a look at this somewhat peculiar new favorite: the humanoid robot Artemis. As Interesting Engineering reportshe will participate in July in the RoboCup 2023, the international football competition between robots.
It is University of Los Angeles Robotics and Mechanics Laboratory (RoMeLa) which is at the origin of the Artemis project. Its main strong point: even if it is violently jostled, it is supposed to keep its stability thanks to its actuators specially designed to work like biological muscles.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind robotasserts Dennis HongProfessor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at RoMeLa. Its innovative actuators ensure excellent balance, even when walking on uneven ground. They are also the key to his ability to run: he can get both feet off the ground in motion. Unlike the actuators used for the majority of robots, which are rigid and positional, those of Artemis are elastic, and that makes all the difference.
Football is just the beginning
The researchers originally developed the prototype as that of a general-purpose humanoid robot, focusing primarily on its bipedal locomotion and adaptation to rough terrain. With its 38.5 kg and its 142 cm height, it can now walk, run and jump on this kind of surface.
Eventually, the team would like this technology not only to be used so that Artemis can play football, but that it also allows him to save lives, especially in the event of a natural disaster.
According to the researchers, Artemis would have broken the walking speed record of 2.1 meters per second during laboratory tests, which makes him the fastest humanoid robot in existence. Moreover, it would only be the world’s third humanoid robotand the very first to be created in an academic environment.
