Disney Imagineering’s Self-Balancing Bipedal Robot: Like WALL-E with Feet

Developed by Disney’s Imagineers, a new bipedal robot character prototype that can balance itself on its two little legs and walk in a variety of different gaits was recently unveiled on the Imagineering YouTube channel. It reminds me a lot of WALL-E, but with feet instead of tank treads.

Using procedural animation, modular hardware, and reinforcement learning, the robot was trained to be able to move in a number of different walks, including strut, prance, sneak, tromp, shuffle, hustle, saunter, and meander. And boy, does it strut and saunter! It moves just like you’d expect a Disney robot character to move, which is absolutely delightful.

Now that I’ve watched the video several times, it actually reminds me of a combination of WALL-E and BD-1 from the new Star Wars Jedi video games. And what a perfect combination that is! I must have one. So, how much for the robot, Walt? I’ll trade you a jar of Pirates of the Caribbean ride water from 1994. It still has that smell.

[via TechEBlog]