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Wednesday, February 15, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Agility Robotics evolves from OSU research
By David Stauth
Correspondent
CORVALLIS — The
rapidly expanding robot-
ics program in the College
of Engineering at Oregon
State University has spun off
one of its first businesses, a
company focused on legged
locomotion that may revo-
lutionize robot mobility and
enable robots to go anywhere
people can go.
The firm, Agility
Robotics, is based in Albany,
Oregon, and Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania; already has
several of its first custom-
ers; will license some tech-
nologies first developed at
OSU, and plans to build on
this scientific foundation in
their product research and
development.
A leading application
for this type of mobility is
package delivery, company
officials say. In the long
term, advanced mobility will
enable shipping so automated
and inexpensive that its cost
becomes inconsequential,
opening vast new possibili-
ties in retail trade while low-
ering costs for manufactur-
ing and production.
“This technology will
simply explode at some
point, when we create vehi-
cles so automated and robots
so efficient that deliveries
and shipments are almost
free,” said Jonathan Hurst,
an associate professor of
robotics in the OSU College
of Engineering, chief tech-
nology officer at Agility
Robotics and an international
leader in the development of
legged locomotion.
“Quite simply, robots with
legs can go a lot of places
that wheels cannot. This will
be the key to deliveries that
can be made 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, by a fleet of
autonomous vans that pull up
to your curb, and an onboard
robot that delivers to your
doorstep.
“This robot capability
will free people from week-
end shopping chores, reduce
energy use, and give con-
sumers more time to do the
things they want to do. It
effectively brings efficient
automated logistics from
state-of-the-art warehouses
out and into the rest of the
world.”
This long-term vision will
take many steps, company
officials said.
Some of Agility Robotics’
first sales will be to other
academic and research insti-
tutions, to grow the research
community and educate
a new generation of engi-
neers in this area, company
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officials said. What the firm
now offers is a bipedal robot
named “Cassie” – similar to
the prototype version dem-
onstrated Feb. 8 at OSU’s
State of the University
address in Portland, Oregon,
by President Edward J. Ray.
Cassie the robot can
stand, steer, and take a pretty
good fall without breaking.
It’s half the weight and much
more capable than earlier
robots developed at OSU.
“Our previous robot,
ATRIAS, had motors that
would work against either
other, which was ineffi-
cient,” Hurst said. “With
Cassie, we’ve fixed this
problem and added steer-
ing, feet, and a sealed sys-
tem, so it will work outdoors
in the rain and snow as we
continue with our controller
testing.”
The particular issue of
motors working against
one another prompted
some extensive theoretical
research, to create the math-
ematical frameworks needed
to solve the problem. The
resulting leg configuration
of Cassie looks much like
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an ostrich or other ground-
running bird.
“We weren’t trying to
duplicate the appearance
of an animal, just the tech-
niques it uses to be agile,
efficient and robust in its
movement,” Hurst said.
“We didn’t care what it
looked like and were mostly
just working to find out why
Mother Nature did things a
certain way. But even though
we weren’t trying to mimic
the form, what came out on
the other end of our research
looked remarkably like an
animal leg.”
Cassie, built with a
16-month, $1 million grant
from the Advanced Research
Projects Agency of the U.S.
Department of Defense, is
already one of the leading
innovations in the world of
legged robotics.
Company officials say
they plan to do all initial
production in Oregon and
will focus their business on
the commercial applications
of legged robots. Hiring is
anticipated for research, pro-
duction and development.
“The robotics revolution
will bring with it enormous
changes, perhaps sooner than
many people realize,” Hurst
said. “We hope for Agility
Robotics to be a big part of
that revolution. We want to
change people’s lives and
make them better.”
Company officials said
that access to the research
base and education of stu-
dents at OSU will aid its
growth, providing the
needed expertise and trained
work force. OSU has already
been ranked by Grad School
Hub as the best in the west-
ern United States and fourth
leading program in the
nation in robotics research
and education.
Last month, OSU offi-
cials also announced that the
university will be a found-
ing academic partner in
the newest Manufacturing
USA Institute, the Advance
Robotics Manufacturing
Innovation Hub. This broad
program with 14 institutes
is a $3 billion federal and
private company initiative
designed to enhance U.S.
competitiveness in advanced
manufacturing.
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