Centaur-like robot designed for disaster response

REUTERS - A four-legged robot modeled on the mythical centaur has been developed by researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology). Like the fabled creature, it has a humanoid-like upper section with two arms able to manipulate and move objects while the quadrupedal lower half is capable of robust locomotion on uneven terrain. Called Centauro, the developers hope its maneuverability and dexterity could one day make it a vital tool for disaster relief tasks. Standing 1.5 meters tall (4 ft. 9) and weighing 93 kilograms, the anthropomorphic Centauro is designed to exist in man-made environments and manipulate human tools, though with much greater strength. Its hybrid mobility system combines legged and wheeled mobility to navigate difficult locations. Inside Centauro's head are cameras, computer vision sensors and a Lidar scanner to help it make sense of the environment and relay information back to its human operators. The Centauro is currently teleoperated but researchers want to give it greater autonomy to work on its own. It will then be tested in real-world scenarios, such as damaged buildings or industrial environments which are too dangerous for humans to venture. The project is led by Nikos Tsagarakis, who previously developed the humanoid robot WALK-MAN, and funded by the European Commission and coordinated by the University of Bonn in Germany.