First humanoid robot takes off with jet propulsion – At least a little bit
The iRonCub3 with jet propulsion can now hover independently. This is made possible by a control system based on artificial intelligence.
The humanoid robot iRonCub3 wants to take off.
(Image: IIT (Screenshot))
The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) has succeeded in making its humanoid robot iRonCub3 hover freely using a jet propulsion system. After several years of work, the IIT researchers succeeded in achieving a controlled hovering flight with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
The iRonCub3 is the third iteration of the humanoid robot with jet propulsion. The version now used for the test flight has been further improved, as can be seen from the study “Learning aerodynamics for the control of flying humanoid robots”, which was published in Communications Engineering.
What has remained the same is that two jet engines are mounted on the arms and two more in a jetpack on the robot's back. They developed a thrust of more than 1000 N, which can lift the 70 kg robot into the air. Considering these thrust forces, the scientists have given the iCub3 a more stable and lighter spine, which is made of titanium. To protect against the heat of the engines, which can reach up to 800 °C, the robot has been fitted with new heat protection covers.
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The current configuration should enable the iCub3 to hover and perform controlled flight maneuvers. This also works in gusts of wind and less favorable weather conditions, say the researchers. The difficulty is controlling the robot in the air. The air stream from the turbines flows out at almost the speed of sound. The aerodynamics have to be determined and evaluated in real time to be able to respond correctly to the control systems with the robot's joint actuators.
“Testing these robots is as fascinating as it is dangerous, and there is no room for improvisation,” says Daniele Pucci, one of the scientists involved in the iCub project.
The difficulty lies in maintaining the dynamic balance of the robot in flight. The problem is that the robot has an elongated shape, is asymmetrical, the masses are mainly distributed over movable limbs and the center of gravity is variable. This makes it considerably more difficult to maintain aero dynamics.
Flying with AI
Using results from wind tunnel studies and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, the researchers were able to develop AI-based models that can calculate aerodynamic forces in real time.
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“Our models include neural networks that have been trained with simulated and experimental data and are integrated into the robot's control architecture to ensure stable flight,” explains Antonello Paolino, lead author of the study.
This enables iRonCub3 to adopt a stable posture during various flight maneuvers. The IIT scientists demonstrated that this works to some extent during a test flight. iRonCub was connected to a frame so that it could move freely to prevent the robot from being damaged in the event of a malfunction. The robot was able to take off with its movable jet engines and enter a stable hovering flight. However, the height reached was only a few centimeters. However, the experiment shows that it is possible to maintain aerodynamics even in a complex system.
(olb)
