Chinese engineers have taught the Jet-HR2 robot to fly and stand in one place using propellers in its feet. The test video was posted on the lab’s YouTube channel. Human-like robots are the most mobile type of robot. But its possibilities are not limitless – they are at least limited by the length and height of the step.
Separate groups of engineers are working to create bipedal robots that, if necessary, can fly over obstacles and return to walking. In particular, engineers from Guangdong Institute of Technology are doing this.
First, they created the Jet-HR1 bipedal robot, which can only skip through vents and prop its leg up in the air with propellers, and then they began teaching it to make a full flight, according to InPlus One.
Externally, the robot consists of two feet joined at the top, but without a stem. The robot has four propellers: one at the foot and two at the waist level. In the summer of 2021, the developers first showed how to take off from the ground, but at that time they used simple thrust control algorithms, which was not enough for normal flight.
Because of this, the robot could not hover in one place and had to be caught. In the new video, engineers show progress in developing a flight control algorithm – and now the robot is able to take off and fly in one place.
Although when hovering above the ground, the robot moves slightly in one direction or another, in general, the flight can be called stable.
The developers offered two tests, in the first the robot hung in the air for about 25 seconds, the other was unsuccessful, in which the thrust was too high and almost flew to the ceiling, after which its engines were turned off. One of the engineers managed to catch the falling robot and it was not damaged.