UCLA’s Soccer-Playing Robot ARTEMIS Robot Is Training For A Tournament

Can your robot bend it like Beckham? The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) revealed its ARTEMIS robot project on YouTube.

The video shows the humanoid machine in its testing phase, which remains stable despite researchers pushing and kicking its legs. 

Later, the clip features the ARTEMIS walking by itself on campus and kicking a ball. UCLA researchers claim it is the “fastest-walking humanoid robot on the planet.”

How did UCLA build the soccer-playing robot?

ARTEMIS Humanoid Robot by the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA pic.twitter.com/vC7R6ln2jE

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UCLA created ARTEMIS to compete in the RoboCup tournament, where robots play competitive soccer matches. 

The acronym stands for “Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability.” 

Later, engineers gave it a cooler meaning, “A Robot That Exceeds Messi In Soccer.” The RoboCup has three categories: standard platform, small size, and humanoid. 

Of course, ARTEMIS will compete in the latter. The UCLA Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) shared a video of the robot on its official YouTube channel. 

You will see that this soccer-playing robot did not skip leg day due to its thick lower limbs. More importantly, they are quite sturdy.

Most of the RoMeLa video shows researchers repeatedly trying to topple the robot while standing. They kicked it in the back and tripped its legs, but the ARTEMIS remained standing. 

However, observant viewers may ask, “Can it remain upright without the metal frame and harness?”

The soccer-playing robot proved its mettle in the last seconds of the video, seemingly jogging on campus.

Its creators proudly claimed that it is the “fastest running humanoid robot on the planet,” capable of running at 2.1 meters or 6.8 feet per second. 

Even better, it is the third humanoid robot that could move completely untethered, thanks to a built-in battery and computing system.

Moreover, it “can walk with both feet off the ground with one phase of flight,” thanks to numerous technical improvements. 

For example, UCLA engineers gave the ARTEMIS “proprioceptive actuators” so that it can maintain its posture despite being kicked or pushed. 

The last seconds of the RoMeLa video showed a photo of the ARTEMIS kicking a ball near a makeshift goal. 

Conclusion

UCLA researchers have been developing a soccer-kicking robot to compete in the RoboCup tournament Amazingly, we see robots play sports nowadays!

Robotics has been rapidly expanding to other industries. For example, Boston Dynamics shared a YouTube video of its robot helping workers at a construction site.

Learn more about the latest developments in robotics and other digital trends at Inquirer Tech.