What if robots had paws?

Humanoid and quadruped robots have crossed the threshold of science fiction and are becoming part of everyday life. These machines equipped with legs are already able to explore dangerous environments, inspect hard-to-reach areas and help keep our homes safe. In the coming years, they promise to become valuable partners in daily life, delivering food, assisting with household chores, and supporting human beings in physically demanding tasks. What makes these robots so versatile is their ability to walk, run, and adapt to the same complex environments in which we move every day. However, this freedom of movement comes with a challenge: controlling the paws is much more complex than controlling the wheels. To overcome this difficulty, researchers turned to an unexpected but extremely effective teacher: nature. In this presentation, we will explore how some solutions, matured through evolution, have inspired researchers to design algorithms capable of giving quadruped robots stability, efficiency and elegance in their movements.

Victor Barasuol è laureato in Ingegneria Elettrica e ha un Master e un Dottorato in Ingegneria dell’Automazione e dei Sistemi.
È Ricercatore presso il Dynamic Legged Systems Lab dell’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, dove guida lo sviluppo di soluzioni nei settori CleanTech, AgriTech, Risposta ai disastri e Spazio. Victor si occupa di robotica quadrupede, dalla progettazione cinematica al controllo, e la sua ricerca si concentra sullo sviluppo di una locomozione sicura e agile attraverso tecniche avanzate di generazione del movimento e di stabilizzazione, consentendo ai robot quadrupedi di operare e collaborare in modo affidabile in ambienti reali.