A motorcycling robot one has to ask why
Ai scientists build a motorcycle stunt robot
Lucy England
A team of scientists from RAI or the Robotics and Ai Institute have been working on creating a robot which can not only ride a motorcycle but can do motorcycle bunny hops, the type which are usually best performed by stunt riders!
The robot is a product of the 'Athletic Intelligence' research programme which (among other things) is working on creating Ultra Mobile vehicles which can perform the same actions as a human rider. The UMV can ride, jump, hop and stop sharp when required and it's only going to get better at it. The skills have been acquired using 'reinforcement learning', which is a strand of machine learning.
It was engineered by integrating a child's balance bike and an electric motor with a drive belt connected to the rear wheel. The rider robot sits aboard and contains computers and balance equipment which are still secret.
The robot can hop the bike by putting its arm out fast, thus pulling the wheels off the ground so that the bike jumps several feet upwards. It has learned to land perfectly too.
It's frighteningly good at what it does already and, as we've already said, it's only going to get better at it. Seen Terminator? Anyone worried? Thoughts to: [email protected] or let us know on Facebook.
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