Team At Carnegie Mellon University Develop Four-Legged, Real-Time Learning Robot

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Sort of creepy, sort of cute.

That's probably the best way to describe the new artificial intelligence robot from Carnegie Mellon University Professor Deepak Pathak that he developed with a research team at the school.

The four-legged robot learns to adapt in real-time, teaching itself how to walk and maneuver through rocks, sand, grass, and even oil-covered surfaces.

Inside the robot, the motor learns to react to new situations - similar to the way people do.

"Let's say you have never walked on to a sand beach before, you go to the beach the first time, your foot sinks into the ground, and by noticing your feet sink under the ground, you can actually say, 'oh my feet are sinking, I to walk slow or I need to keep my foot in a more, sturdy way," Professor Pathak said. "So, you adapt online and you do it all the time like you go hiking, on drugs...he will [fall] for some slippery surface on oil, like the olive oil example."

The research team says the robot will be used for search and rescue efforts, as well as discovery like space exploration.