ANYmal is a Swiss-Mile Robot that is capable of walking, rolling, and standing up on its four-wheeled legs. It was made by ANYbotics. In 2018, it was tested in one of the world’s largest offshore converter platforms in the North Sea.
The innovation started to emerge when its legs were enhanced with wheels. It allowed the robot to use less energy and reach greater distances.
Now, more sophisticated features have been added in ANYmal. It can now crawl and stand up. These additions were made by Swiss public research university ETH Zurich’s spin-off company Swiss-Mile.
The robot can roll on flat surfaces and reach the speed of around 14 mph (22km/h). Also, when going down the stairs, the shock-absorbing knees of the structure make less use of energy.
There is an option to lock the wheels and use steps if it needs to walk. It can also stand up by rolling on its back legs and balancing itself by analyzing data from its inertial measurement units and the measurements of its 16 motors in its legs and wheels.
It has cameras, GPS, and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors. It means that ANYmal will be able to pass through obstacles and navigate indoor and outdoor urban environments. It can also withstand weight of 110 lbs (50 kg) on its back. The robot can also stand on its own, grab the packages using its front legs as arms, and put them in its cargo compartment all by itself.
In addition, the robot will be able to fully recharge in three hours with a runtime of 90 minutes. It can also be used as a large-scale surveillance robot with its thermal, acoustic, and optical sensors. It will detect changes in the environment by comparing live data with the pre-mapped condition of the environment.
“We deploy a novel wheeled-legged robot for large-scale reality capture through digital twins, last-mile delivery problems, and logistics in urban environments” announces Swiss-Mile. It also aims to decrease CO2 emissions.
The robot will be available next year in the market.