Kangaroobot

Fusion 360 • 3D Print (FDM) • Mechatronics • MuJoCo • Machine Learning • Reinforcement Learning

From Nature to Mechanics: Tail-Assisted Walking from the Kangaroo’s playbook.

Kangaroos use their long and strong tail as their “fifth” limb propel themselves forward while walking. The tail could even support their full body weight when they stand up to kick during fights!

The design objectives are to recreate the stable tail-assisted walking with 8 servos: COM will be slowly transferred to the tail as it progresses, and slowly transferred back to the five points of contact (four legs & tail)

Key Steps

Mechanical design: prototype (FDM) / screws & washers / heat inserts
Controls: gait parameter search / RL exploration
Simulation: MuJoCo

Key results

Speed: 30.1 cm/s (1 robot size per cycle)
Iteration: maximized ROM （240°）

Bonus

It learned how to backflip in MuJoCo!