Ground cargo robots are increasingly used in various industries and even deliver goods to ordinary consumers. But all these machines still have one thing in common: they have to be loaded manually. Swiss engineers have built a robot LEVA, which independently grabs and releases cargo boxes weighing up to 85 kg.
Image source: leva.ethz.ch
LEVA, which currently exists as a functioning prototype, is being developed by young engineers and designers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the Zurich University of the Arts. The robot moves on four jointed legs, and instead of feet, these legs end in wheels.
This allows LEVA to move quickly and with minimal energy consumption on flat surfaces – it is guided by GPS, lidar and cameras, thanks to which it navigates autonomously and avoids obstacles. When the car needs to climb stairs or step over a curb, it locks the wheels and starts walking like a dog or other four-legged animal. LEVA can activate this feature when driving on any rough terrain that is not suitable for wheeled driving.
Most notable is LEVA’s ability to independently detect, grab, and carry European-standard cargo boxes weighing up to 85 kg. To do this, it processes data from five cameras: four on the sides and one on the bottom surface. Having calculated the location of the box, the robot hovers over it, bends its legs at the joints, and lowers its entire body onto it; having captured it, the machine rises up with the cargo and moves to its destination. The authors of the project have not yet announced the release date of LEVA as a commercial product – they are still refining its capabilities.