Standardization News

A new ASTM International subcommittee will focus on test and performance standards for legged robots. The new subcommittee (F45.06) is under the jurisdiction of ASTM’s robotics, automation, and autonomous systems committee (F45). 

The new subcommittee will be developing standards and testing procedures to evaluate the performance of the class of mobile robots primarily relying on articulated limbs and legged mechanisms for locomotion. These include but are not limited to quadruped robots, bipedal robots, and humanoids that operate semi-autonomously or in fully automated modes.

The new subcommittee will be chaired by F45 member Bowen Weng, technical specialist at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. 

“The ability to maintain balance has been the key challenge and primary interest for legged robot researchers for decades since the invention of these robots,” says Weng. “As a result, the standard to evaluate the balancing capabilities, to understand if it falls over under varying conditions, against different disturbances, will be a reasonable starting point for the subcommittee’s work.”

According to Weng, standards developed by the subcommittee will provide community-wide agreed-upon references. 

“These standards will help to mitigate risks, identify hazards, save costs, improve efficiency, and ensure consistency and quality,” says Weng. “These standards will help users and customers to know what a robot can and cannot do and will help build consumer confidence in legged robots.” 

The new subcommittee is seeking experts in the field, as well as all other interested parties. The goal is to have as many voices contributing to this work as possible. LEARN MORE.