The Walking Chair: Inspired by Anime, Engineered for Reality Imagine a chair that not only supports you but can also get itself up and walk...

The Walking Chair: Inspired by Anime, Engineered for Reality

Imagine a chair that not only supports you but can also get itself up and walk around. This isn't the stuff of fairytales anymore. Researchers at the JSK Robotics Laboratory at The University of Tokyo have turned this concept into a reality, drawing inspiration from an unexpected source: a three-legged chair from the anime series "Suzume."

The anime chair, a recurring motif in "Suzume," is depicted as having an unbalanced, three-legged design. This very instability became the inspiration for the researchers. They saw an opportunity to create a robot that could not only walk but also adapt its gait and recover from falls – a crucial skill for real-world legged robots.

Robotic Chair:

Balancing The researchers' creation is not a plush copy of the animation, but a complex robotic miracle. The robot follows the anime's three-legged asymmetrical chair design. This asymmetry makes it constantly difficult to maintain balance like a real robot with legs.

The team used two main methods to teach the robotic chair to walk and balance.

Linear completion:

This method involves physically manipulating the robot into various walking postures, allowing researchers to observe and record the movements required for stable locomotion. This data was then used to create a “gait library” that the robot could reference.

Reinforcement learning:

Here, researchers used computer simulations to create a virtual environment for the robot. In this environment, the robot can learn through trial and error and receive continuous feedback (reward or punishment) based on its movements. This allowed the robot to develop a more sophisticated understanding of balance and gait control.

Advantages of stroller seats

This research has enormous potential for the future of robotics. Some possible applications include:

Search and rescue:

Walking chair robots can navigate disaster zones and reach places that traditional wheeled robots cannot. Caring for the elderly: These robots can help the elderly by providing support and mobility at home. homework. A walking chair can help with tasks such as retrieving items or rearranging furniture. The future of mobility

The University of Tokyo's walking chair represents an important step forward in the development of legged robots. Researchers taking inspiration from seemingly whimsical sources like animation are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the field of robotics. This paves the way for a future where robots are seamlessly integrated into our lives, providing support and communication in new and innovative ways.