Who Let the Robodogs Out? Meet Swiss-Mile's wheeled quadruped

The Robot Report Podcast · 8 Nov 2024 · 1h 01m

What this episode covers

Marko Bjelonic, CEO and co-founder of Swiss-Mile, explains how his company transformed an academic quadruped research project into a commercial wheeled-robot product by integrating deep reinforcement learning for complex motion control. He details the engineering challenges of optimizing battery life and speed through a hybrid legged-wheeled morphology, noting that their software allows the robot to achieve five times the range of standard quadrupeds using stock hardware. The discussion covers specific applications in 24/7 security and logistics, where high throughput and rapid emergency response are critical, and highlights the strategic partnership with Unitree for hardware while Swiss-Mile focuses on autonomy and manipulation software.

Mentioned

Companies
Swiss-Mile, Unitree, Boston Dynamics, Xpeng, Physical Intelligence, IRobot, Nvidia, Pipe Dream Labs, RGO Robotics
Products
Animal, Spot, Atlas, Project Groot
Tools
Isaac Lab

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