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And I know a truck driver. From talking with them, driving a truck is only part of the job, there are dozens of other little tasks that they do outside of the cab. Is petman up to the task and are they going to put one one every truck?

Too late... :/

What makes you think that not everything will be controlled by a computer?

http://www.bostondynamics.com/...

rough terrain, as in rocky and steep. I doubt the tortoise could manage much faster. I doubt the humans are moving much faster on the rough terrain they are speaking of.

BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, climbs muddy hiking trails, walks in snow and water, and carries 340 lb load.

http://www.bostondynamics.com/...

PETMAN is an anthropomorphic robot designed for testing chemical protection clothing. Natural agile movement is essential for PETMAN to simulate how a soldier stresses protective clothing under realistic conditions.

Unlike previous suit testers that had a limited repertoire of motion and had to be supported mechanically, PETMAN balances itself and moves freely; walking, bending and doing a variety of suit-stressing calisthenics during exposure to chemical warfare agents. PETMAN also simulates human physiology within the protective suit by controlling temperature, humidity and sweating, all to provide realistic test conditions.

Although it's hard to tell from dueling press releases, it appears that PETMAN is more sophisticated and moves much more autonomously then Porton Man. I assume that it is also a lot more expensive.

Maybe I'm reading into it a bit, but I doubt the guy is so obtuse that he doesn't realize there's enough money to go around for the various forms of locomotion. I think this is just some defensive posturing he's doing in public to try and paint his company's products in a better light against the soon-to-be competition.

Here's what I see:
1) iRobot is a major supplier of defense and security robots currently in use by the US military.
2) iRobot's entire lineup is based on wheeled or treaded robots. There's no indications of them being anywhere close to fielding a walking robot of any sort.
3) Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics, a small company that wasn't yet a credible threat, has been working on both bipedal and quadrupedal robots for DARPA that are to the point where they're being field tested by the military.
4) Then, Google bought Boston Dynamics, meaning it suddenly has far more resources available to it than before, making them a much more credible threat.
5) And now, shortly thereafter, iRobot's CEO suddenly comes out trashing the technology used by the competition, just as that technology is reaching a point where it can start entering the market.

As I said, I might be reading into it a bit, but the timing and notions just seem weird. For instance, going back to the summary (emphasis mine):

The reason it has taken so long for the robotics industry to move forward is because people keep trying to make something that is cool but difficult to achieve, rather than trying to find solutions to actual human problems.

This is pretty clearly posturing on his part, since he has to be aware that none of his Roomba products can navigate stairs, an extremely basic and common component of building interiors. It's obvious that his products are not offering "solutions to actual human problems", or at least not to all of the problems, and he's scared that others will realize it too. It's good that he is, since his company isn't set up to deal with it, from what we know publicly.

Maybe I'm reading into it a bit, but I doubt the guy is so obtuse that he doesn't realize there's enough money to go around for the various forms of locomotion. I think this is just some defensive posturing he's doing in public to try and paint his company's products in a better light against the soon-to-be competition.

Here's what I see:
1) iRobot is a major supplier of defense and security robots currently in use by the US military.
2) iRobot's entire lineup is based on wheeled or treaded robots. There's no indications of them being anywhere close to fielding a walking robot of any sort.
3) Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics, a small company that wasn't yet a credible threat, has been working on both bipedal and quadrupedal robots for DARPA that are to the point where they're being field tested by the military.
4) Then, Google bought Boston Dynamics, meaning it suddenly has far more resources available to it than before, making them a much more credible threat.
5) And now, shortly thereafter, iRobot's CEO suddenly comes out trashing the technology used by the competition, just as that technology is reaching a point where it can start entering the market.

As I said, I might be reading into it a bit, but the timing and notions just seem weird. For instance, going back to the summary (emphasis mine):

The reason it has taken so long for the robotics industry to move forward is because people keep trying to make something that is cool but difficult to achieve, rather than trying to find solutions to actual human problems.

This is pretty clearly posturing on his part, since he has to be aware that none of his Roomba products can navigate stairs, an extremely basic and common component of building interiors. It's obvious that his products are not offering "solutions to actual human problems", or at least not to all of the problems, and he's scared that others will realize it too. It's good that he is, since his company isn't set up to deal with it, from what we know publicly.

Maybe I'm reading into it a bit, but I doubt the guy is so obtuse that he doesn't realize there's enough money to go around for the various forms of locomotion. I think this is just some defensive posturing he's doing in public to try and paint his company's products in a better light against the soon-to-be competition.

Here's what I see:
1) iRobot is a major supplier of defense and security robots currently in use by the US military.
2) iRobot's entire lineup is based on wheeled or treaded robots. There's no indications of them being anywhere close to fielding a walking robot of any sort.
3) Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics, a small company that wasn't yet a credible threat, has been working on both bipedal and quadrupedal robots for DARPA that are to the point where they're being field tested by the military.
4) Then, Google bought Boston Dynamics, meaning it suddenly has far more resources available to it than before, making them a much more credible threat.
5) And now, shortly thereafter, iRobot's CEO suddenly comes out trashing the technology used by the competition, just as that technology is reaching a point where it can start entering the market.

As I said, I might be reading into it a bit, but the timing and notions just seem weird. For instance, going back to the summary (emphasis mine):

The reason it has taken so long for the robotics industry to move forward is because people keep trying to make something that is cool but difficult to achieve, rather than trying to find solutions to actual human problems.

This is pretty clearly posturing on his part, since he has to be aware that none of his Roomba products can navigate stairs, an extremely basic and common component of building interiors. It's obvious that his products are not offering "solutions to actual human problems", or at least not to all of the problems, and he's scared that others will realize it too. It's good that he is, since his company isn't set up to deal with it, from what we know publicly.

Maybe I'm reading into it a bit, but I doubt the guy is so obtuse that he doesn't realize there's enough money to go around for the various forms of locomotion. I think this is just some defensive posturing he's doing in public to try and paint his company's products in a better light against the soon-to-be competition.

Here's what I see:
1) iRobot is a major supplier of defense and security robots currently in use by the US military.
2) iRobot's entire lineup is based on wheeled or treaded robots. There's no indications of them being anywhere close to fielding a walking robot of any sort.
3) Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics, a small company that wasn't yet a credible threat, has been working on both bipedal and quadrupedal robots for DARPA that are to the point where they're being field tested by the military.
4) Then, Google bought Boston Dynamics, meaning it suddenly has far more resources available to it than before, making them a much more credible threat.
5) And now, shortly thereafter, iRobot's CEO suddenly comes out trashing the technology used by the competition, just as that technology is reaching a point where it can start entering the market.

As I said, I might be reading into it a bit, but the timing and notions just seem weird. For instance, going back to the summary (emphasis mine):

The reason it has taken so long for the robotics industry to move forward is because people keep trying to make something that is cool but difficult to achieve, rather than trying to find solutions to actual human problems.

This is pretty clearly posturing on his part, since he has to be aware that none of his Roomba products can navigate stairs, an extremely basic and common component of building interiors. It's obvious that his products are not offering "solutions to actual human problems", or at least not to all of the problems, and he's scared that others will realize it too. It's good that he is, since his company isn't set up to deal with it, from what we know publicly.

Boston Dynamics made Big Dog a few years ago...probably the same thing with a different name (e.g. Boston Dynamics worked on it for DARPA) but it's pretty cool. I especially like the video where it's slipping on ice but never falls. http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_bigdog.html

may possibly be the approach many of these very smart researchers use. Perhaps the focus should be on developing some kind of artifical nevous system with the abitlity to learn on its own rather than trying to program for the dynamics of real world interaction. Perhaps the folks over at Boston Dynamics may be on to something? Not sure what its learning/memory capabilites are but it sure seems to behave like it has some kind of nervous system.

That's actually a cool idea. The "autonomous mount" could be a BigDog.

From TFA: "Cutkosky has collaborated with scientists from [...] a robot-building company called Boston Dynamics."

http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_rise.html

Take a look at this website . Very creepy, cool and a bit OT.

And more OT, WTF is this 40 x 25 character text box in Idle? Did slashcode just jump back in time to 1970?

It's worse than that. It's here.. Well, sort of anyway. It's more like a psychotic hydraulic mule. But I would especially want one chasing me.

It's nice seeing how science catches up to science fiction.

I suspect in this case, it is closer to 'necessity being the mother of invention'....

Goffer himself was paralysed in an accident in 1997 but he cannot use his own invention because he does not have full function of his arms.

The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries.

Now here is technology that may help in that: Big Dog Robot Walker If you haven't seen this you won't believe the video. And yes, it's real...it's not a hoax.

This has been built to carry heavy loads for military purposes. But what great things it will be able to do for civilians if they can have legs or an exoskeleton that helps them keep their balance!

Wheels are overrated. I want to ride one of these! http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

Not so spectacular, and not really a miss, just (like everything DARPA does) a tad ahead of its time.

http://bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

Watching the video, it actually looks alive.
http://bostondynamics.com/

Not so spectacular, and not really a miss, just (like everything DARPA does) a tad ahead of its time.

http://bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

Watching the video, it actually looks alive.
http://bostondynamics.com/

From the video this really doesn't look that impressive.
Especially when you compare it to existing robots like the BigDog. Admittedly, that's a quadraped vs. a biped, but the BigDog video is much more impressive when it comes to "kick-worthiness".

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

That's nothing... check this one out: http://bostondynamics.com/dist/BigDog.wmv. At around 00:20 the guy gives it a huge shove with his foot... nothing like the little taps the OP video has.

BigDog by Boston Dynamics is already there.
For those who haven't seen it, watch the video. The part where they try to kick it over is pretty impressive.

This guy here: http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?sect ion=BigDog can not just climb stairs but carry 120 pounds in the process. Click on the video for an eery demonstration of the uncanny valley effect.

Here is a video of a 4-leg robot made by Bosten Dynamic, it is clearly better than any 2-leg robot. http://www.bostondynamics.com/dist/BigDog_Feb-26-2 006.wmv

Courtesy of Boston Dynamics who co-developed the robot with CMU: 6.4MB WMV

A movie starring Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons seems like more of a waste of time to me, but here is the video in wmf format from the manufacturer's site.

This is another robot built by the guys at Boston Dynamics http://www.bostondynamics.com/. The robotic pack mule that they built ( BigDog ) was linked to last Friday. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/ 04/0240246

There's also Rhex a six legged waterproof go anywhere robot.
more info at http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?sect ion=robotics

This is another robot built by the guys at Boston Dynamics http://www.bostondynamics.com/. The robotic pack mule that they built ( BigDog ) was linked to last Friday. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/ 04/0240246

There's also Rhex a six legged waterproof go anywhere robot.
more info at http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?sect ion=robotics

I just watched the video of this robotic "pack mule". Given that the "knees" of the front legs face the knees of the back legs, I wonder if anyone else was reminded of Doctor Dolittle's PushMi-PullYu?

The MIT Leg Lab went through several generations. Raibert, back in the 1980s, had the big insight - legged locomotion is about balance, not gait. He worked on one-legged hoppers to force the issue, with considerable success. But the approach he used was something of a hack. He used undertuned PD control loops that, in a steady state, got to the right place at the right time. But this didn't generalize to hills, turns, slippery surfaces, etc.

Raibert went off to do a startup, which moved away from dynamics and towards kinematic graphical simulations for military training. The Leg Lab was taken over by Pratt, who was more of an motor/actuator engineer. Not too much exciting happened in the Pratt era, although the drive mechanics got better. Pratt tried to build a legged walker from 1998 to 2001, but he left in 2001 and took the unfinished walker with him.

The Leg Lab was then taken over by someone interested in rehab and proesthetic devices. The Leg Lab website hasn't been updated since 2001.