Summary

Original source:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=7666297

Details

• Simple robots that toddle along like an old-fashioned child's toy offer a more realistic and efficient model of human walking than more sophisticated models, researchers said on Thursday.
• They hope their back-to-basics approach can be used not only to design more efficient robots, but also prosthetics for injured patients and amputees, and to understand better how people walk.
• The idea is based on "passive-dynamic walkers" -- devices that can walk down a slight slope using only gravity and carefully balanced, pendulum-like legs.
• These unpowered walkers can produce a surprisingly human-like gait, three separate teams of researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Science.
• Adding a tiny bit of power, as much as is used by a small fluorescent light bulb, allows an element of control for the walker to make more than a few steps and adjust to differing terrain, including level ground.
• "We can let the mechanics take care of a lot of the motion as opposed to motors," Andy Ruina of Cornell University in New York, who helped design one of the robot walkers.
• "For a robot to ever be practical it has to be able to run for a while," Ruina told a news conference sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• The concept is simple, said Ruina -- the legs act like sticks attached to hinges, and swing back and forth with a pendulum motion.
• "Mainstream" robots, on the other hand, have every movement carefully controlled and powered.
• Steven Collins of Cornell, who is now at the University of Michigan, added a tiny bit of motorized propulsion at the robot's ankles.
• "At each step it pushes off with its back foot," Collins said.

Related Articles

Popular Topics: Robot, Robots, Natural health, Diabetes, Breast cancer, Prostate cancer, Heart disease, Depression, High cholesterol, Osteoporosis, Vaccines, Autism, ADHD, Infertility, Weight loss, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Trans fats, Acrylamides, Fluoride, Mercury	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/003157.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/003157.html">Prosthetics research to be based on simple robotic motions</a>
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber! Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more. Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.	Your Email Address: Free Subscription Code: Enter the numbers you see: 100% free of charge. Unsubscribe anytime. Absolutely no spam. We respect your email privacy.
Recommended Special Report: Seven Words that can Change the World by Joseph R. Simonetta Read this special report now... "Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com	More on NaturalNews.com: • Streaming Health Ranger Videos • CounterThink Cartoons • FREE Special Reports • Podcasts