Gizmos & Gadgets: Ghost Minitaur Robot Goes Through its Paces

September 25, 2016 – The video of Ghost Robotics new Ghost Minitaur is a little creepy. It can reach up and turn door knobs. It can climb chain link fences (see image below) and stairs. It sees and feels the ground using highly tactile sensors. It can jump and flip and yet is sensitive enough upon contact with an egg not to break its shell.

It does all of these things without a gearbox. Ghost Minitaur has been outfitted with direct drive rotary electric motors. Its movements are controlled by software. If fitted with a gearbox it would respond much slower to tasks then it does.

States Jiren Parikh, CEO of the company, “we…use the motors, and the torque generated as sensors themselves.” The direct-drive gives the robots’ legs the ability to feel and react. The motion when viewed looks like a cross between hopping and springing. Parikh believes that its practical applications include helping humans during natural disasters. The robot can carry supplies, search for survivors, identify gas leaks and more.

The unique, patent-pending design, can be incorporated into other systems. The legs and the way they operate in particular could be useful in the design of medical robots for surgical, animal husbandry, laboratory and food production applications. The technology can be adapted for child and elder care.

Current cost in low quantity production is $10,000 per robot but the developers who come out of University of Pennsylvania believe that the cost can be brought down to as low as $1,500 per unit.