After the Atrias robot presented in 2015 and its amazing balance abilities, researchers from Oregon State University present Cassie, a bipedal robot and an improved version of its predecessor.
Just two years ago, the Dynamic Robotic Lab at Oregon State University (in the United States) introduced us to Atrias, a brand new kind of bipedal robot endowed with a sense of remarkable balance and able to perform fluid and dynamic movements. These same researchers are now presenting the successor to Atrias.
Called Cassie, this new robot is already less bulky and comes in the form of a pair of legs. The process has been greatly improved to be much less energy intensive. This was indeed the major flaw of Atrias. Finally, new joints have been added and its battery has been reduced to the point that it measures only one 60th of those fitted to the Tesla Model S electric cars.
For the Dynamic Robotic Lab, it was a question of developing a machine as efficient as the human being in its locomotion, but also more efficient in its balance in order to make it capable of adapting to any type ground. Thus, Cassie has the potential to carry out reconnaissance or victim assistance missions in dangerous environments.
As the company Agility Robotics announced on his Twitter account, Cassie is no longer in the demonstration phase and is already commercially available. All parts of the first production series have found buyers.
Here is the demonstration of the first robot of the Dynamic Robotic Lab, Atrias, developed in 2015:
And here is a demo video for Cassie: