Disney developing pretty much cutest robots ever

The Imagineers at Disney's Research division are busy creating robots that mimic the adorable walk of popular animated characters, with the ultimate goal of making theme park characters more similar to their on-screen, animated counterparts.

Fortune explains to effort:

Disney’s uses for a bipedal robot are pretty straightforward: Imagine marching alongside your very own set of seven dwarves from Snow White, whistling as they work? Or palling around with a replica Abu the monkey from Aladdin? It’s pure Christmas list fodder.

Thanks to recent advancements in robotics, Disney's theme parks have started to introduce animatronic characters that aren't permanently stuck on a stage like everyone in the famous Hall of Presidents. (Gizmodo)

DisneyResearch.com:

Our goal is to bring animation characters to life in the real world. We present a bipedal robot that looks like and walks like an animation character. We start from animation data of a character walking. We develop a bipedal robot which corresponds to lower part of the character following its kinematic structure. The links are 3D printed and the joints are actuated by servo motors. Using trajectory optimization, we generate an open-loop walking trajectory that mimics the character’s walking motion by modifying the motion such that the Zero Moment Point stays in the contact convex hull. The walking is tested on the developed hardware system.

A few years ago, Lucky, a self-powered walking dinosaur, started making appearances at Disneyland and Walk Disney World. And eventually this new research could lead to robotic versions of popular characters from Disney's animated films showing up in its parks too. Sorry, Mickey, kids really just don't know who you are anymore. (Gizmodo)