Robbie the Running Robot

Robbie was built in 1996 in conjunction with Alec Robertson. It has 12 degrees of freedom (2 per leg) and is controlled via a PC parallel port (tethered). Servo motors control the legs and there are four pressure sensors in the belly of the robot so it knows when it has fallen over.

Using a rule-based learning strategy, Robbie learns to walk forwards as fast as possible without falling over. It works on flat surfaces, corrugated surfaces and inclined planes up to about 25 degrees above horizontal. The system architecture of the robot is layered so that basic reflexes (i.e. how to stand up) are learned first. In the next layer, sequences of leg movements are learned so that forwards gaits emerge, which are then optimised for maximum speed.