Soccerbots Learn How To Fall Gracefully

wjousts writes "Up until now, most work with humanoid robotics has focused on keeping them upright and balanced, but in the real world, falling down is inevitable. So now researcher in Chile are looking at teaching their Soccerbots how to fall down gracefully to minimize damage and allow for a quick recovery. According to a New Scientist article, 'They found that one of the main ways to minimise damage is for the robot to fold its legs underneath it. Among other things, that means the robot is much less likely to hit its head on the ground. Another good strategy is to use a fall sequence consisting of several movements, so the falling body has several points of contact with the ground, spreading the energy of the impact over a large number of joints, rather than taking it all in one disastrous crunch.'"

Re:The essense of Judo

[TheSHAD0W]

You can also slam the ground with your limbs, transferring the momentum to your torso and reducing the impact on it and on your head. I'm surprised they haven't experimented with that move yet.

Re:Even more life-like

[LunarEffect]

Yeah, that was my first thought when I read this, too. It would be pretty interesting to see a robot intelligent enough to cheat without people noticing!

Re:This is great

[Kjella]

Absolutely. Have they taught them to fall like they're mortally wounded, yet be back on their feet in no time if the referee doesn't blow the whistle?

PLF

[pete-classic]

Another good strategy is to use a fall sequence consisting of several movements, so the falling body has several points of contact with the ground, spreading the energy of the impact over a large number of joints, rather than taking it all in one disastrous crunch.

Get your head out of your fourth point of contact [wikipedia.org] and send 'em to Airborne School. All the way, Airborne!

-Peter

Learning how to fall - Learning how to walk

[TrevorB]

As a Dad, it would seem to me that robots learning how to fall is a prerequisite for learning how to walk. Children around 12 months old spend a lot of time learning how to fall gracefully, so that they have the confidence to actually take steps and walk without fear of damaging themselves.

I recall a video some years back of a number of Japanese engineers racing towards a walking robot that was about to fall, for fear of it breaking. Somewhere in the back of my head I wondered if they ever took the time to observe humans learning to walk.

Booze is the answer

[Bearhouse]

Many sports - skiing for example - are best enjoyed in a 'relaxed' state. When I started to ski, I used to hurt myself in the inevitable, regular falls. A sympathetic fellow-novice provided support in the form of regular shots of decent whisky from the largest hip-flask I'd ever seen.

Pretty soon I was collapsing gracefully into the snow with no difficulty or pain / damage.

Put some 200-proof in the 'bots hydraulics and it'll be fine...