Chairbot Walks You Around While You Sit

Gary writes "What do you get when you combine a robot and a chair? The Hubo FX-1 chairbot, of course. In what is perhaps my favorite robot design yet, this giant chair with legs looks like it came out of some ridiculous 80's sci-fi movie or something, but it's very, very real. HUBO FX-1 is two meters in height, and weighs 150 kg. The person sitting can control the robot easily using the built in joystick. Each ankle has a 3-axis force/torque sensor which measures the normal force and 2 moments. Each foot has an inclination sensor which measures the angle of the slope. Also, the rate gyro and the inclination sensor of the body allow the device to stabilize itself."

Comments

Protecting us

[LiquidCoooled]

This thing will protect us from the terrible secret of space.

Pak Chooie Unf!

One thought

[Brad1138]

Why?

Re:One thought

[ross.w]

Maybe so that paralegics and quadriplegics can use stairs like everyone else? A lighter and slimmer version would be a superior solution to using an electric wheelchair, provided it can be done sufficiently cheaply.

Hey, they have to start somewhere!

Re:One thought

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

I've got a quad friend who'd buy one of these in a shot if they were cheap enough.

To go hiking in the hills, walking over dunes on the beach, all the things that wheels aren't really suitable for.

Re:One thought

[Max Littlemore]

Maybe so that paralegics and quadriplegics can use stairs like everyone else?

This was my first thought. Wheels are no good on rough and uneven terrain.

I just wonder WTF would buy a 2m tall 2 legged monstrosity, when 6 short legs would be much simpler to control and balance. This thing is rediculously impractical.

Then I read the end of TFA about soldiers on these things with chain guns and rpgs. My internal school boy nearly wet himself."Sure it may be a huge target on an inherently unstable pedal configuration with an inability to assume a prone position or find effective cover, but hey, it's a bit like a Mech!"

Wankers.

Re:One thought

[Original Replica]

...but hey, it's a bit like a Mech!"

If enough armor can be packed on it, the "mech" platform might be more effective in urban combat than tanks. At least for patrolling an area, if not the original capture of an urban environment. Of course then we would only be a few years away from police in the US and EU from using "mechs" in riot control, and then we would be screwed. As it is G8 already has 1000 injured protesters. "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6728303.stm

Re:One thought

[Max Littlemore]

If enough armor can be packed on it, the "mech" platform might be more effective in urban combat than tanks.

With no armour whatsoever, a few million nanobots that eat ammunition would be more effective than tanks, _and_ they'd be completely uneffected by the tripwires that are so easy to set up in urban environments. Not nearly as exciting though.

Re:One thought

[paleo2002]

I just wonder WTF would buy a 2m tall 2 legged monstrosity, when 6 short legs would be much simpler to control and balance. This thing is rediculously impractical.

Whenever a new design for a 2-legged robot shows up, people immediately complain about how impractical bipedalism is and that the problem can easily be solved with more legs. But if that were the case, if there were no advantage to bipedalism, then bipedal organisms would not have shown up at all, let alone numerous times in separate groups of animals through history.

Once the balance problem has been solved, bipedal robots will be as fast and agile as bipedal humans, dinosaurs (avian and non-), etc. And then Will Smith will have to save us all from them.

Re:One thought

[flyingfsck]

The 'grey goo' solution. Drop them on enemy territory and slowly reduce the whole country to 'grey goo'.

Re:One thought

[vivian]

Obviously you have never been to Australia.
There's kangaroos who use 2 legs (albeit with a hopping gait and a tail for balance) - but they have no problems clearing 6 ft fences, can cruise at 25 km/h and sprint for up to 2km at 40km/h) , and emus for a start (top speed about 50km/h. Africa has ostriches too of course.

Not to mention penguins? how could you forget about them, on slashdot!

Re:One thought

[comradeeroid]

Why?

Because I need it to move from my desk to management whenever they have IT-problems so that they understand the particulars of our relationship.

"Oh no, IT-support is thundering our way. It'd better be a real problem this time and not just someone who forgot to plug in the ethernet cable, or else there will be smiting."

Re:One thought

[mpe]

Whenever a new design for a 2-legged robot shows up, people immediately complain about how impractical bipedalism is and that the problem can easily be solved with more legs. But if that were the case, if there were no advantage to bipedalism, then bipedal organisms would not have shown up at all, let alone numerous times in separate groups of animals through history.

The reason that bipedalism shows up in animals is that the basic bodyplan of all vertebrates has two sets on limbs. It's easier in evolutionary terms to modify the pectoral limbs than to add additional limbs. This does not apply to robots.

Re:One thought

[mpe]

I don't know of any animals that naturally walk on two legs. Even primates don't normally walk on their legs...

Guess you must have missed these animals known as "birds" as well as their extinct ancestors, therapod dinosaurs :)

Re:One thought

[RodgerDodger]

Correction - G8 has some rioters (no numbers given in the linked article) who decided to charge a police line. There's not even the remotest suggestion here that the police suppressed an otherwise peaceful protest. In an article linked from that article, there's a mention of how police used tear gas and batons to break up a group of rioters who "threw bottles, fire crackers, rocks and Molotov cocktails" and "broken up paving stones to use as projectiles and overturned and torched several vehicles". At least 146 police were injured by these rioters. As further evidence of the lack of police instigation, several other truly peaceful protests had no incidents.

Peaceful protests don't break down into riots. Peaceful protests don't have the protesters being caught on film throwing Molotov cocktails and smashing up cars with crowbars.

If you're gonna build a chairbot, do it right...

[EvilRyry]

Chairbot is a great idea and all but its way too high off the ground to be useful in the office. If I built a chairbot, I'd do it right. It would have 8 legs and kinda crawl around like a spider, keeping you low to the ground. It would be so awesome.

Not enough capacity

[G4from128k]

V2.0 will need to handle 2X or 3X the current device's 100kg payload if it is to sell in the U.S. The growing numbers of "enlarged" Americans that I see using those scooters is horrifying.

Re:Not enough capacity

[maxume]

Ehn, just cut off their legs.

Go Neimoidian Culture!

[ChromeAeonium]

I want one just like Nute Gunray had.

Chairbot Mech moves 3/5/0

[bughouse26]

I'll take one with 6 Medium Lasers, an AC/20, a PPC-10, and an LRM-6 please.

Re:Chairbot Mech moves 3/5/0

[Penguinshit]

not enough heat sinks for all that firepower, unless you plan on standing still Mr. Sitting-Duck Clan...

Payback

[SPrintF]

Payback's comin', Ballmer... walkin' slow.

Re:Payback

[Aladrin]

The first thought I had when I saw this article was 'At Soviet Microsoft, Chair throws you!' ;)

if I had a successful .com startup...

[nbert]

...I'd be ordering a couple. Just imagine doing job interviews in/on such a thing :D

Steve Ballmer Version

[aschlemm]

The Steve Ballmer version of this chair will automatically throw itself across the room. :)

It's a little large.

[mark-t]

But if they can get it down to a more manageable size, chairs with legs will be great for people who are otherwise stuck in a wheelchair... it will make all kinds of places accessible to them that weren't previously.

Re:It's a little large.

[gr8_phk]

The Ibot is already available today. I did some development on it for a while and can tell you it's more comfortable than any powered device you've ever ridden. It can do stairs too.

Congrats!

[reset_button]

You invented an over-priced, overly complex, huge version of an electric wheelchair!

May I be the first....

[Xinef Jyinaer]

May I be the first to say, "Goliath Online". And just in time for SC2

Technical Paper

[morcheeba]

I found this interesting technical paper on the robot: Experimental Realization of Dynamic Walking for a Human-Riding Biped Robot, HUBO FX-1. It has lots of pretty pictures and graphs and gets in to the control-system problems they had when they developed it. Each step runs through three different balance control strategies, which they outline in detail. It's almost enough information to build your own!

Re:If you're gonna build a chairbot, do it right..

[billsoxs]

OK - but as Jay Leno would say - Are we really getting THAT fat?

Re:If you're gonna build a chairbot, do it right..

[Frogbert]

Well yeah but if you are going to do that you need to do it right. I envision two sets of thousands of grippy legs (made out of rubber or something) mounted in a circular pattern on each side of the chair sharing a single motor.

By rotating this circle each leg would be able to grip onto the floor and help the engine propel you in the direction you want to go in.

good timing

[Jeek Elemental]

was considering taking up jogging but havent cause of all the running involved, this might be the push needed.

Ok, Dude,

[Cadallin]

Stephan Hawking NEEDS this thing. All it needs is a set of grasping hands on long arms so he can crush his enemies like Robo-Nixon. That would be so awesome. In any case, add some lasers and missiles and you've got a fully functional Gundam!

Re:Ok, Dude,

[PayPaI]

He already has something better

Toyota

[Scrameustache]

Why? Because they saw the one Toyota made years ago and thought "neat"?

Hiking is always such a strain on the buttocks

[Rgb465]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUVFV8g4-Yo

In all seriousness....

[grimdawg]

....the applications of this and derivatives seem fairly extensive.

There's an inherent advantage of legs over wheels - that's why we have to go out of our way to make ramps for the wheelchair-bound. This device represents, to me, an important step (HAH!) in design of legged machines. Having a robot which can walk intelligently over unpredictable surfaces would be pretty useful.

Just off the top of my head, here are some areas this could come in handy:

Construction/mining/etc. - As it is, everything needs to be carted around by trucks, which aren't maneuverable in the way a set of legs can be;

The disabled - as mentioned by a few, the wheel in wheelchair makes things very tough for our legless friends. With a legchair, they could maybe climb stairs and go over rougher terrain;

Military - same deal. It's basically the first step toward a genuine Mech;

Automated factories - no longer are we limited to wheels/tracks/conveyor belts. There's gotta be some advantage to that.

Space? - The idea of a droid repairing your spaceship just got a little less out there, maybe?

There are probably more, too. I think the chair itself is retarded, but the research that's gone into getting a set of functioning, intelligent legs is pretty useful.

Re:If you're gonna build a chairbot, do it right..

[Doctor Memory]

Heh, that was my first thought: "Jesus, how soon before I see these things stomping around Wal-Mart?" I swear, I go there about five times a year, and every time it's like Bloated Freaks on Wheels week.

LipoBot

[Voice of Meson]

If we could hook up some Liposuction equipment to it, then use the extracted fat of the occupant as a fuel for the machine we'd really be getting somewhere. Their fat arses would actually be hauling them around. Ha!

LipoBot - Patent Pending.

Re:LipoBot

[autophile]

Their fat arses would actually be hauling them around.

But only in Soviet Russia.

--Rob

Spider car!

[MaWeiTao]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this thing. It's kind of scary to see it in motion.

1/2 chevaline

[zobier]

I want a chevaline. It looks like we're half way there (and about 6 times too heavy -- but I wouldn't mind not being able to carry it around).

Re:If you're gonna build a chairbot, do it right..

[captainClassLoader]

The good Doctor (Memory) says:

I go there about five times a year, and every time it's like Bloated Freaks on Wheels week.

Dude, I think you've just named my next band.