Currently, the Stanford Doggo holds the record for greatest vertical jumping agility. It can also jump twice as high as any existing quadruped robot.
Students from Stanford University have created a four-legged robot that jumps, flips and trots like a dog.
Dubbed Stanford Doggo, this robot is not only capable of performing acrobatic tricks, but it can also traverse challenging terrain.
While comparable bots can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars and require customized parts, the Stanford Student Robotics club’s Extreme Mobility team estimates the total cost of Doggo at less than $3,000.
What’s more exciting about this project is that the design is completely open source, meaning anyone can make a Doggo version of their very own.
“We had seen these other quadruped robots used in research, but they weren’t something that you could bring into your own lab and use for your own projects,” said Nathan Kau, a mechanical engineering major and Extreme Mobility lead, in a university news post.
“We wanted Stanford Doggo to be this open source robot that you could build yourself on a relatively small budget,” Kau added.
The students will present Stanford Doggo at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 in Montreal, Canada.
Anyone who wants their own version of the robot can consult comprehensive plans, code and a supply list that the students have made freely available online.
Creators planning a larger version of Doggo
Stanford Doggo is currently about the size of a beagle but the students are working on a larger version of it.
It took them nearly two years to make Doggo walk, trot, dance, hop, jump and perform backflip.
“We’ve definitely made several prototypes before we actually started working on this iteration of the dog. It was very exciting the first time we got him to walk,” said Natalie Ferrante, a mechanical engineering coterminal student and Extreme Mobility team member.
Extreme Mobility is collaborating with the Robotic Exploration Lab of Zachary Manchester, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, to test new control systems on a second Stanford Doggo. The team has also finished constructing a robot twice the size of Stanford Doggo that can carry about six kilograms of equipment. It is name as Stanford Woofer.
