“For these experiments the navigation module is disabled, thus the foothold positions and hand contact points are manually set according to the current environment setup. However, disturbances (pushing, uneven terrain, rolling board) are not known to the robot and are compensated by our online stabilization methods.”
According to an interview with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the researchers plan to combine their multi-contact algorithm with computer vision that can map out rooms and identify traversable areas.
Though fairly advanced among bi-pedal robots, LOLA still has some work to do before it’s capable of real locomotion. For instance, the bot isn’t yet capable of walking autonomously since its navigations systems haven’t yet been completed, meaning all the footfalls seen in the demonstration had to be pre-programmed.