What is the secret of Disney's stunt robot that flies like Spider-Man over 20 meters?



The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) theme park 'Avengers Campus' is located within Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California, USA. Among them, one of the highlight spots, Spider-Man's show, has one act in which Spider-Man actually jumps at a height of nearly 20 meters without a lifeline, but in reality this aerial jump is not a real human being, but Disney The developed stunt robot is doing it. Disney's robot development team talks about the development process and difficulties of this stunt robot in the following movie.

How Disney Designed a Robotic Spider-Man | WIRED --YouTube


You can see how stunt robots actually fly at Disney California Adventure attractions in the article below.

Introducing a stunt robot that perfectly reproduces how Spider-Man swings brilliantly in the air with a web shooter --GIGAZINE



This stunt robot was originally developed by a project called 'Stuntronics'.



The prototype of this stunt robot was this robot called 'Brick'. Since Brick can control the center of gravity, he was able to control his attitude in the air and rotate autonomously.



'Stickman' is a combination of this Brick and a damper type joint so that the body can be folded in the air. Stickman can swing with momentum by moving joints while grasping the rope, and can release the rope at the right time and jump while measuring the angle and position with the sensor.

'Stickman', a stick-shaped robot that can be splendidly suspended from a trapeze developed by Disney --GIGAZINE



The following humanoid prototype was born after a half-scale prototype, which was a further development of this Stickman.



Then, using this humanoid prototype stunt robot, the development team started a test to jump to actually operate it at the attraction. From the beginning, he suddenly tried to fly as high as 40 feet (about 12 meters).



Stunt robots have built-in accelerometers and protractors like those built into smartphones so that you can jump as planned.



In addition, the development team measured the climate around Disney California Adventure and considered the effects of the wind for use in outdoor attractions. Partly because of that, the stunt robot is now able to land almost exactly as intended. In addition, the jump altitude of the test went up steadily, and the stunt robot was able to jump up to 65 feet (about 20 m).



What bothered the development team here was the question, 'How do you make a stunt robot look like Spider-Man?' Even if you can fly perfectly, if it is too perfect, you will lose humanity as well as Spider-Man.



Spider-Man, for example, flies around town while operating his smartphone in a movie.



Then, I almost hit the bus, and while dealing with it on the spot in a hurry, I managed to maintain my posture and continue jumping.



In other words, it looks more like Spider-Man if you lose your posture a little in the air.



When the stunt robot swings and releases its hand from the rope, it curls up and jumps, and spins around.



So, if you stretch only one arm while jumping ...



As the center of gravity collapses, the stunt robot makes a lateral rotation as if twisting its body. It seems that the calculation becomes quite complicated if you add a twist with a humanoid robot that is not a simple shape like Brick, but by raising one hand and making the movement in the air irregular, it is not a robot but a bloody Spider-Man Looks like it's jumping.



In addition, stunt robots have landing problems.



The landing uses a 14-foot square net and mat, and the moment it lands on the net, it slows down at once.



However, stunt robots will continue to fly many times a day, seven days a week. Therefore, it is very difficult to make it sturdy enough to withstand the impact.



Therefore, the stunt robot is made of resin parts and aluminum frame for 3D printer output, and can be easily disassembled.



Also, even if landing fails, it is designed so that only the parts of the 3D printer will break instead of

the expensive and delicate servo mechanism.



The development team said they would like to be able to apply robot technology not only to Spider-Man but also to other characters.



in Hardware,   Video, Posted by log1i_yk