Area Four Industries Germany was recently commissioned by the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (http://www.is.mpg.de/) to create a special structure inside their research laboratory in Stuttgart, Germany for the study of robotics locomotion. The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is a member of the Max Planck Society, an internationally recognized science and technology research organization within Europe and across the world. In fact, they are fifth worldwide in terms of research published in
Nature journals and 33 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to their scientists.
For this special project, the institute needed a unique structure that would house a motion capture studio for studying locomotion of various biological animals and their inspired robotic counterparts (in particular, the jumping and gliding of a vampire bat inspired robot). Through a combination of high speed video and motion capture systems, interplay was analysed between the different locomotion modes and how they synergistically work together. This research allows scientists to understand the reduction in the overall number of components necessary to achieve this locomotion and the resulting smaller, lighter, and higher performance system. Improvement in the design of biologically inspired high performance jumping and gliding robots is then facilitated.
The project from the institute required A4I Germany to create a 10.9 x 5.4 x 5.3 (lwh) metre structure that would fit perfectly inside of their building, feature white walls and allow no outside light inside the structure. The lightweight, but incredibly strong, MILOS M222 quatro and duo truss were used to create the structure. The many tubes of the specially designed M222 structure allowed trouble-free mounting of all motion capture cameras and lights. To realize the white walls and protection from outside light, Area Four industries Germany sourced the company Easystretch (
www.hms-easystretch.com) for a fabric cover solution.
As a result of their cooperation with Area Four Industries Germany, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is now equipped with a state-of-the-art motion capture studio that will help them deliver optimized robot locomotion to the world.
www.areafourindustries.de