A psychological theory could kickstart improvements in the way robots are able to walk, thanks to a University of Manchester study published in the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems.
The study analysed what happens when standard algorithms driving a self-balancing robot were replaced with those based on ‘perceptual control theory’ (PCT).
The theory was encoded into the little droid, allowing it to control what it sensed so that it moved around more effectively, just as humans and other animals can.
Though the robot moves on two wheels, it is an ‘inverted pendulum’, which requires nimble balancing in a similar way to how our bodies are kept upright when we walk.
Credit: University of Manchester
So, the better the robot can balance, the better prepared it will be for walking like a human.
Though perceptual control theory has been used widely in psychological therapies, education and parenting interventions, this is the first time that using it in robots.
News Source: Eurekalert
