Engineers at Caltech’s Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) have just revealed LEONARDO, a bipedal robot that can not only walk, but also fly, enabling it to skateboard as well. LEONARDO (LEgs ONboARD drOne) is also capable of walking a slackline and hopping around. It’s also the first robot that uses multi-joint legs and propeller-based thrusters to achieve a precise degree of control over its balance.
Thanks to its drone-like ability, LEONARDO can easily navigate tough terrain by simply avoiding the ground, but two drawbacks are high energy consumption during flight and limited payload capacity. Its lightweight legs take stress off of its thrusters by supporting the bulk of the weight, but since they’re controlled synchronously with leg joints, it boasts uncanny balance. This 2.5-foot-tall robot’s two legs come equipped with three actuated joints, along with four propeller thrusters mounted at an angle at its shoulders.
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We drew inspiration from nature. Think about the way birds are able to flap and hop to navigate telephone lines. A complex yet intriguing behavior happens as birds move between walking and flying. We wanted to understand and learn from that. There is a similarity between how a human wearing a jet suit controls their legs and feet when landing or taking off and how LEO uses synchronized control of distributed propeller-based thrusters and leg joints,” said Soon-Jo Chung, corresponding author and Bren Professor of Aerospace and Control and Dynamical Systems.
