Autonomous quadruped robot from Ghost Robotics equipped with new navigation skills

Last September, we covered the Ghost Minitaur robot from Ghost Robotics, which is a direct-drive autonomous quadruped robot that is built for instantaneous and precise force feedback applications and movement across unknown, rough, and vertical terrains in various applications. At the time, the robot could perform such tasks as climbing fences and open doors. A new update, however, has given the robot advanced reactive behaviors for navigating grass, rock, sand, snow and ice, urban object and debris, and vertical terrain.

Ghost Minitaur is a 1.3 ft (hip to hip) x 0.9 ft (toe to toe, standing), 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.

The latest gaits adapt reactively to unstructured and dynamic environments to maintain balance, ascend steep inclines (up to 35º), handle curb-sized steps in stride (up to nearly 6 in.), crouch to fit under crawl spaces (as low as 10.5 in.), and operate at variable speeds and turning rates, according to Ghost Robotics. The Minitaur can also leap onto ledges (up to 15+ in.), and across gaps (up to approximately 31 in.), and its high control bandwidth enables it to actively balance on two legs.

"Our primary focus since releasing the Minitaur late last year has been expanding its behaviors to traverse a wide range of terrains and real-world operating scenarios," said Gavin Kenneally, and Avik De, Co-founders of Ghost Robotics. "In a short time, we have shown that legged robots not only have superior baseline mobility over wheels and tracks in a variety of environments and terrains, but also exhibit a diverse set of behaviors that allow them to easily overcome natural obstacles. We are excited to push the envelope with future capabilities, improved hardware, as well as integrated sensing and autonomy."

The company says the robot, with its direct-drive technology, is the lowest cost model with durability for commercializing very small to medium size legged UGV sensor platforms over any competitive design. A commercial version of the Minitaur is slated for the near future, but the current development platform has been in high demand, as its been shipped to many top robotics researchers across the globe for a broad range of research and commercialization initiatives.

"We are pleased with our R&D progress towards commercializing the Ghost Minitaur to prove legged robots can surpass the performance of wheel and track UGVs, while keeping the cost model low to support volume adoption, which is certainly not the case with existing bipedal and quadrupedal robot vendors," said Jiren Parikh, Ghost Robotics, CEO.

Further improvements in mobility, built-in manipulation capabilities, integration with more sensors, built-in autonomy, and increased mechanical robustness and durability for operation in harsh environments are planned for the coming quarters, according to Ghost Robotics.

View more information on Ghost Robotics.
View an IEEE Q&A with Jiren Parikh.

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