Biped robot walker is learning to tread carefully
Here's my terrible admission for the day: I'm not really all that bothered by Star Wars. In fact, the only thing that interested me about the films was the cool Imperial tech, particularly the two- and four-legged walkers. Well, Mike Smyth looked Darth-ward for design inspiration when it came to the appearance of his bipedal walking robot, as it bears a pretty good resemblance to a Star Wars AT-ST.
However, what's really interesting about the project isn't the physical design but Mike's intent to have the biped learn how to walk by itself. Rather than just rigging up a RC handset or even pre-programming it to avoid obstacles, he's giving it the capability to respond to sensors in the feet so as not to fall down holes or crush Ewoks.
![](https://www.slashgear.com/img/gallery/biped-robot-walker-is-learning-to-tread-carefully/MiniMechadon_2.jpg)
![](https://www.slashgear.com/img/gallery/biped-robot-walker-is-learning-to-tread-carefully/MiniMechadon_3.jpg)
Mike's eventual plan is to put the learning algorithms into bigger, more complicated robots for whom programming prescriptive movement patterns is tedious and time-consuming.
MiniMechadon [mirror] [via MAKE:]