RHex is a autonomous robot design, based on hexapod with compliant legs and one actuator per leg. A number of US universities have participated, with funding grants also coming from DARPA.
Versions have shown good mobility over a wide range of terrain types at speeds exceeding five body lengths per second (2.7 m/s), climbed slopes exceeding 45 degrees, swims, and climbs stairs.
The RHex design comes from a multidisciplinary and multi-university DARPA funded effort that applies mathematical techniques from dynamical systems theory to problems of animal locomotion, and, in turn, seeks inspiration from biology in advancing the state of the art of robotic systems. The RHex project received $5 million over 5 years from the DARPA CBS/CBBS program in 1998, and an approximate additional $3 million from other grants, such as National Science Foundation grants. The following Universities participated on the initial RHex project:
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
University of California, Berkeley, CA
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
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