A quadrupedal robot developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has completed a full marathon without a battery change, and the results have been published in an international academic journal. This achievement paves the way for the commercialization of the technology for use in real industrial settings.
KAIST announced on September 25 that the long-distance running technology and marathon completion results of its quadrupedal robot, RAIBO2, developed by Professor Hwang Bo-je-min's mechanical engineering team, have been published in the journal Nature.
RAIBO2 participated in the Sangju Dried Persimmon Marathon held in November 2024, completing the full marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers in 4 hours, 19 minutes, and 52 seconds without recharging or changing its battery. This marks the first time a quadrupedal robot has completed a full marathon in an actual competition.
The research team approached the challenge of long-distance operation by analyzing the entire system of the robot. They found that simply improving the efficiency of one component would not ensure fast, stable walking performance and long running distances simultaneously.
To address this, they analyzed energy losses throughout the robot and designed the mechanical, electrical, driving, and control systems in an integrated manner to maintain high performance while reducing energy consumption.
Rather than limiting their tests to short runs in the lab, the team validated their technology in a real marathon setting to enhance reliability. During the marathon, they recorded the robot's internal voltage, current, temperature, and battery status, synchronizing this data with location, speed, and altitude information measured by a GPS system.
RAIBO2 was officially registered as a participant, and the research team documented the entire process from start to finish, which lasted over four hours, on video. The data collected during the research will serve as a foundation for future studies based on real measurement data.
The next challenge for the research team is to create a product that can be used repeatedly in industrial settings. RAIBO2 is a research robot designed and handcrafted by the team. To develop it into a product for actual industrial use, multiple robots must demonstrate the same performance, and the production costs must be reduced.
Additionally, the robot must meet industrial reliability requirements, including waterproofing, dust resistance, a wide operating temperature range, durability against shocks and vibrations, and electromagnetic interference compatibility (EMI/EMC).
Lion Robotics, a startup founded by KAIST faculty, will play a key role in translating this research achievement into a commercial product. Lion Robotics contributed to maintaining high energy efficiency and walking performance for over four hours during the marathon. The research team plans to develop mass production technology for quadrupedal robots that can operate for extended periods in various environments.
Professor Hwang stated, "This research not only demonstrates how far a quadrupedal robot can run but also proves how to design the entire robot to achieve high athletic performance and energy efficiency using actual marathon data. We aim to connect the world-class performance achieved in the lab to a product that anyone can reliably use in industrial settings."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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