Why are robots still so bad at racing after “200 years of intensive development”?

Are you afraid that your adorable cat will be replaced by a robot cat, as in Mars ExpressMars Express ? Are you horrified to see that the army is showing more and more interest in factory-produced soldiers’ dogs? Rest assured, replacing our animal friends does not happen overnight. Problem: a persistent gap between the mobility capabilities of animals and robots.

In an article published in Scientific roboticsResearchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (USA) studied the issue and showed that, despite recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence, robots are not able to surpass the capabilities of cheetahscheetahspeople or even cockroaches in their natural environment.

A More Efficient Biological System

In fact, they have not yet reached the level of efficiency and complexity of biological systems that manage to harmoniously combine the various capabilities necessary for movementmovement : power (which givesenergyenergy necessary for movement), stability, actuation (mechanisms of movement), perception (the ability to detect and understand the environment), and control (regulating actions in response to perception).

“Through 200 years of intensive engineering development, we were able to send a spacecraft to MoonMoon and on Mars, and much more, notes Kaushik Jayaram, roboticist and co-author of the study in a press release. Unfortunately, we do not yet have robots that are significantly more efficient than biological systems. mattermatter movement in the natural environment. »

In fact, engineers face trade-offs inherent in the design: “if we try to optimize something, e.g. speedspeed progress, we risk losing something else, such as the ability to turn.”– the researcher laments.

Towards integrated design of our future robots?

To overcome these problems, scientists suggest taking inspiration from a biological model by creating ” subunitssubunits functional”, where the different elements will be seen synergistically, as in animal cells. This will require integrating key components (energy sources, actuators, control systems) into unique parts of the robot.

Goal: To simulate a biological model in which organisms integrate different functions into specific anatomical structures. For example, instead of separating the battery, motors, and control circuits into separate components, they can be designed to work together in a harmonious and coordinated manner.

This is a significant challenge for researchers, and suggests it will be a long time before a four-legged robot can successfully take on a horse on an obstacle course.