Walking Robot Sets New Distance Record: 9 Kilometers

The unofficial record set by the Cornell Ranger robot on April 3rd at Barton Hall, by making 45 laps around the running track, more precisely 5.6 miles or 9 kilometers. The robot would have probably continued to keep on going, however at some point it stopped and fell on his back probably due to low power supplied from its battery, it's not yet clear, said the Cornell Ranger robot development team.

"We need to do some careful analysis to find out for sure," said Cornell graduate student, Greg Stiesberg.

Previous models of the same robot had also set free-walking records. Professor Andy Ruina reveals that one of their robot versions had once walked 1 kilometer, while another 2.5 kilometers on a treadmill. A third six-legged robot walked just about 2 kilometers, however some reckon that it broke the rules.

The fact is that there are no rules for now, said Ruina, nor is the Guinness Book involved in any way. These are unofficial records. "There's a lot of rigmarole with that." The main goal of the Cornell Ranger robot was to test energy efficiency, since the movement of its legs is not entirely automated, as in the case of most robots.

Cornell Ranger robot emulates a walking style rather similar to that of a human on crutches, thus using gravity to provide part of the power required to swing the legs forth. Because it has no knees, it actually uses toes to lift itself while the legs in the back swing into a forward motion.

Some other models developed in the laboratories at the Cornell University, with knees, capable of imitating human walking, appear to consume the same amount of energy per weight and distance as a human. Human walking style is extremely energy demanding. For example, Honda's Asimo robot consumes ten times more energy than a man when walking.

"We've just moved into this world of electromechanical devices, and to make something this robust is a big achievement. We've learned tons about what it takes to make walking work," concluded Ruina in his press conference.