Autonomous robot from Ghost Robotics climbs fences and opens doors

A newrobotics company called Ghost Robotics has announced the launch of its first direct-drive legged autonomous robot platform, Ghost Minitaur, which is built for instantaneous and precise force feedback applications and movement across unknown, rough, and vertical terrains in various applications.

Ghost Minitaur is a 1.3 ft (hip to hip) x 0.9 ft (toe to toe, standing), fully-assembled quadrupedal robot that weighs just over 11 lbs. and can carry a payload of more than 6.5 lbs. The robot features an Arduino-compatible robot microcontroller based on an STM32F303 from STMicroelectronics running at 72 MHz. It features a Picatinny rail system for payload, sensor, and manipulator attachment and features high torque motors and specialized leg design which allows the robot to run and jump over difficult terrain while actively balancing, climbing fences, reorienting from fall, and even opening doors. High-speed and high-resolution encoders enable the robot to “see” and “feel” the ground through the motors and adapt accordingly.

Ghost Robotics was founded in October of 2015 by University of Pennsylvania PhD candidates, Avik De and Gavin Kenneally, and is backed by the University of Pennsylvania and PCI Ventures, which incubate Penn's leading research and innovations. The company is researching and building next-generation legged robots and its underlying research and intellectual property have additional applications in surgery, lab operations, healthcare and advanced gait research, according to thepress release.

"We are extremely excited to be launching our first commercial robot platform, Ghost Minitaur™," said Gavin Kenneally, Co-founder of Ghost Robotics. "This has been a long journey in the conceptualization and development of the robot, and we see many applications for the platform ahead and underlying technology," added Avik De, Co-founder.

A key application of the Ghost Minitaur, according to the company, is a deployment of the robot as an autonomous sensor vehicle for public safety, military, exploration, mining, agricultural and hazardous environment operation, as well as advanced gait research and development.

"The forward thinking vision of both Gavin and Avik is quite impressive," said Jiren Parikh, Ghost Robotics, CEO. "The market opportunity for legged robots in operating environments where wheeled or tracked robots have limitations is substantial."

View more information on theGhost Minitaur.

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