Meet Ascento Pro! Incredible two-wheeled autonomous robot can climb UP full flights of stairs and drive at speeds of up to 7.5mph
- The robot is the latest design from the ETH Zürich spin-off Ascento Robotics
- Independent wheels allow it to cross rough terrain and withstand being jostled
- It can navigate for itself using a combination of cameras and LiDAR scanning
- The Ascento Pro could find applications in inspection, surveillance and delivery
An incredible two-wheeled and fully autonomous robot is capable of climbing up flights of stairs and can drive along at speeds of up to 7.5 miles per hour.
The ‘Ascento Pro’ is the brainchild of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich) spin-off firm Ascento Robotics, building on their previous designs.
The cute robot — which looks like the wheeled baby of an AT-ST Walker from Star Wars — could find applications in inspection, surveillance and ‘last mile’ delivery.
It is unclear how much the robot might retail for commercially — and when — with MailOnline having reached out to Ascento Robotics to enquire.
An incredible two-wheeled and fully autonomous robot is capable of climbing up flights of stairs and can drive along at speeds of up to 7.5 miles per hour. Pictured: the Ascento Pro
ASCENTO PRO STATS
Manufacturer: Ascento Robotics
Max. speed: 7.5 mph (12 kph)
Power: Electric battery
Operating time: 8 hours per charge
Mode: Autonomous or remote control
‘Ascento Robotics is developing a modular, self-balancing mobile robot that combines both the versatility of legs and the speed of wheels,’ the developers explained on their website.
The little robot’s core design features a pair of articulated legs ending with motorised independently-operating, bicycle-style wheels.
These allow the machine to wheel along — in a manner akin to two unicycles driving side-by-side — over various types of terrain, stay upright if accidentally jostled and also it flex its legs to hop over obstacles in its path.
Moreover, jumping repeatedly even allows the robot to steadily climb its way up flights of stairs.
While these features were present in the previous model — the Ascento 2 — the new Pro version adds to the basic design with the incorporation of a fully-autonomous driving mode powered by a combination of onboard cameras, lighting and LiDAR sensing.
The Ascento Pro is also capable of navigating back to its charging post, which connects to a port on the underside of the robots main body.
The robot can last eight hours per single charge — a significant improvement over the Ascento 2’s operating time of 1.5 hours — and, if needed, a spent battery can be easily swapped out for a fully charged one to get it going again.
The new model also has larger wheels than its predecessor, which was only capable of achieving 5 miles per hour to the Pro’s 7.5 miles per hour.
The Ascento Pro’s versatility allows it to pick itself up from a variety of positions in the event that it should either fall or be pushed over.
The robot can also ‘sit down’ gently to conserve power while it awaits further instructions from its operators.
The robot features a pair of articulated legs ending with motorised independently-operating, bicycle-style wheels. These allow the machine to wheel over various types of terrain, stay upright if accidentally jostled and also it flex its legs to hop over obstacles in its path, while jumping repeatedly even allows the robot to climb its way up flights of stairs — as pictured
The Ascento Pro adds to its predecessor’s design with the incorporation of a fully-autonomous driving mode powered by a combination of onboard cameras and LiDAR sensing (as depicted)
The Ascento Pro robot could find applications in inspection, surveillance and ‘last mile’ delivery — and looks rather like the wheeled baby of an AT-ST Walker from Star Wars (pictured)
One likely future application of the Ascento Pro is in providing so-called ‘last mile’ delivery challenges — the movement of goods from a large-scale transport hub to a recipient at a specific destination.
‘Thanks to its efficiency Ascento can carry goods for many kilometres and thanks to its stair climbing technology also to locations where conventional robots cannot go,’ the developers wrote.
‘It can carry objects on its top without compromising [the] contents due to its stability and robustness.
‘Ascento is considerably faster than other platforms, which makes it an ideal candidate for efficient last mile delivery.’
Specific applications, they added, might include food delivery, regular mail and the transport of laboratory samples within hospital settings.
Real-life TRANSFORMERS! Incredible four-wheeled robot can drive at speeds of up to 14mph or stand up on two legs
Forget about Optimus Prime and Megatron! Swiss experts have developed a four-wheeled robot that can rear up on its hind legs and spin around like a performing poodle.
Developed by ETH Zürich spin-off Swiss-Mile, the agile bot that can reach speeds of up to 14 mph (23 kph) is the latest iteration of the ‘ANYMal’ robot concept.
The design — which superficially resembles Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot — has previously been shown using its AI to get back up after being kicked over.
In a newly-released video, the robot is shown not only performing its standing trick, but also wheeling along and taking ascending and descending steps in its stride.
Forget about Optimus Prime and Megatron! Swiss experts have developed a four-wheeled robot that can rear up on its hind legs and spin like a performing poodle
‘It’s a car, quadruped, and humanoid!’ explained roboticist and ANYmal developer Marko Bjelonic of ETH Zürich.
‘Our wheeled-legged robot performs exceptional locomotion skills with reinforcement learning driving at speeds of up to 6.2 m/s (22.32 km/h or 13.87 miles/h), overcoming obstacles and standing up on two legs.’
According to Swiss-Mile, their ANYMal robot is expected to find application in so-called ‘last mile’ delivery challenges.
This is the movement of goods from a large-scale transport hub to a recipient at a specific destination.
‘With both legs and wheels, our robot outperforms state-of-the-art wheeled delivery platforms as well as lightweight delivery drones,’ Dr Bjelonic added.
The team claims that ANYMal is up to 83 per cent more efficient than comparable legged robots.
The robot, Swiss-Mile continued, can carry a maximum payload of 110 lbs.
‘It is the only solution capable of carrying tools, materials, goods, and sensors over long distances with energy efficiency and speed while overcoming challenging obstacles like steps and stairs.’
ANYmal’s design, he added, also enables ‘seamless navigation in indoor and outdoor urban environments.’
Developed by ETH Zürich spin-off Swiss-Mile, the automaton (pictured here on the road) that can reach speeds of up to 14 mph (23 kph) is the latest iteration of the ‘ANYMal’ concept
‘The urban population [ratio] is 74 per cent in Switzerland and 56 per cent worldwide,’ Swiss-Mile explained on their website.
‘This share will increase even more in the future, requiring smart solutions to make life in cities more liveable.
‘With this growth, more goods are being moved from place to place than ever before,’ they continued — leading, they noted, to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions and traffic congestion unless better solutions can be developed.
‘This last-mile delivery challenge requires electric, small-scale autonomous solutions,’ just like ANYMal, they concluded.
‘It’s a car, quadruped, and humanoid!’ explained roboticist and ANYmal developer Marko Bjelonic of ETH Zürich. Pictured: ANYMal feels like the spiritual successor to Optimus Prime (pictured) and his fellow Transformers from the popular cartoon/film/toy franchise, many of which could also switch from being vehicles to humanoid figures and back again
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