University of Michigan's MABEL robot hits a stride, breaks a leg (video)
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 25th 2010 9:18PM
posted May 25th 2010 9:18PM
We're going to warn you up front. This isn't easy to watch, but robotics research can sometimes be a nasty business, and some things just can't be left unseen. At the center of the disaster waiting to happen pictured above is MABEL, a bipedal robot that researchers at the University of Michigan have been working on for the past few years, and which, on an otherwise ordinary May 18th, made its first attempt at walking over rough ground. Things got off to a well enough start, with MABEL able to walk with a reasonably natural gait, and even recover after a small slip after a few boards where placed in her path. As the university itself points out, however, the whole point of the experiment was to "push her til she cracked" -- and crack she did, with a shin eventually giving way after one too many boards were added, resulting in one of the sadder sights we've seen in our years of robot watching. Head on past the break for the complete video, if you can handle it.
HAHAHAAHAH!
"Ouch. My. Fibula."
@technoreaper I'd say we're at least a few years away from the uprising.
This is not a walking robot.
This is a carousel ride with robot in place of horsey.
After the robot breaks its "leg," the radial arm continues to drag it around the track. The robot's forward motion comes from the radial arm... obviously, balance is easier with a central radial arm...
@Heathhunnicutt
One day, that will be us rotating that carousel...one day this robot, or its offspring will have their revenge...
@Heathhunnicutt So you've designed something superior?
@CRA1G
Well I created a robot I called Aseemo. No really, I was like, "Hey Honda check this out..." Next thing I know I'm waking up in dark alley with a headache. True story.
@credo
I don't know why the reactions are so negative. If you follow developments in robotics you know that this is a big leap. Humans ability to "catch" themselves after stumbling is an evolutionary miracle of senses and reflexes. And this robot is capable of simulating exactly that. The leg breaking is obviously a mechanical problem and shouldn't be the real issue here. Over all, stumbling without falling is a great success!
@SeeKo
so reply to the guy with the negative comments.
@credo
You're right. Sorry. I intended to reply to the laughing one up there. ;-)
@SeeKo I wouldn't call a breaking a leg a mechanical problem. He needed more calcium... and why in the world wouldn't they give the poor thing feet so he wouldn't slip all over those things!
@CRA1G,
No, but these guys have:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2bExqhhWRI
@Heathhunnicutt Well, sort of. It appears to me that it slowed down near the end. I think the walking did propel it, but momentum kept it going. Could be wrong.
Still, I agree. Overlords are going to have to stick to something other than two legs for now.
@JohnnyDiggMe
Wow. And the video is 3 years old already. This guy has probably moved to Area51 by now. ;-)
@technoreaper : They did the same thing to Conan the Barbarian and we all know what happened in the end. :)
@technoreaper
not nearly as cool as this robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw
@technoreaper I know, UM is pretty funny. Those fools can't even make a robot that can walk straight.
Go Bucks!
@ImSpartacus was thinking the same thing.
@PeterJames
Too many "obtancles"!
@Heathhunnicutt Nope. The radial arm keeps swinging due to momentum, and the fact that it's mounted with very low friction bearings (so that it wouldn't interrupt the robot's walk).
Given that it was a bolt on the leg that failed and not the robotics/programming, this is fairly impressive.
@technoreaper Welcome to the 1980's. MIT's been doing this for decades.
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/3D_biped/3D_biped_flip.mpeg
http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/robots.html
Sorry for the potshot.
Why for some reason do I feel bad for the robot? It broke my heart to watch that..
@emagine
Maybe, because you are one of them. Try taking the Voight-Kampff test.
@emagine
You are not alone. It really did scare me to see it's leg broken off like that. Poor robot.
@emagine It just looked like it gave up on life after its leg snapped, it didn't even try after that!
@emagine I think it was the dragging after it was gimped that was bad, it's like when something gets run over but is still being dragged by the car that hit it.
@emagine
I build robots and that was so friggin painful :(
@emagine : bigdog and littledog are rofl.
Wow! So now we have a robot which can not only walk like a human but also trip and fall like one.
So you remove its head, feet, and hands then ask it to walk on a leash? Oh skynet will be very angry.
Oh that's gotta hurt!
@cuz84d
im firin mah lazer in 3..2..
cue sad anime music
Slow mo' fail
I guess it will a while before we see GPP.. genuine people personality robots complaining about it!
He almost got smacked in the head by the robot @ 33 seconds in.
@SiXiam
Yeah, as a former grad student, I have to say that not all grad students are as careless with dangerous machinery as these two.
D,:
Maybe next time it will be ok once they learn to stand on one leg and bend their knees a bit
So now we know how to kill the terminators! Hit em in the knee's!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw
@akbar
Now that is a couple generations ahead of this U-MI carousel-loooking Herby Hancock's "Rock-It" video impersonation wanna-be... Here's the link again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw
It's actually kind'a scary... just imagine having a dozen of those things coming at you at once... just like those nasty viperwolves in Avatar:
http://www.pandorapedia.com/viperwolf
@qmartman711
There is no humanity in this. Its a robot.
Actually kinda creepy-cool how it almost slips and then catches itself.
Is it the mechanics or the software that prevents the device from bending its hip and leg joints more sharply? I think with a wider range of motion, the robot may have a better chance of maintaining balance. Similarly, it might not be a bad idea to design an ankled or jointed foot to allow it a larger surface over which to spread its weight.
minus 400 points for using comic sans.
@hanspecans yes Yes YES!!!!!!!!!! comic sans makes me want to vomit
A camera would help it to know where obstancles are.
@someToast
Considering you can walk around without your eyes (i.e. pitch dark outside), I think it's a good challenge for a robot to do so as well. Besides, why constrain a robot to the same limitations as humans? How can they be superior to us if they need the same handicap we do??? (sight)
@Jeff Kibuule It was more of a joke in reference to the closing credits, but yes I agree. : )