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MABEL Robot Runs Like a Human
MrSeb writes "Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a running, obstacle-scaling robot. This robot, which is called MABEL (not an acronym), is capable of running at speeds of up to 3.06 meters per second, or 6.8 mph. Physically she is very similar to a human — a heavy torso, and light, springed legs that act as load balancers and shock absorbers — and with a clever feedback system, MABEL even runs like a human, spending 40% of her time three or four inches off the ground."
Not very much like me. I'm missing the bar attached to my hip. I can run straight too.... don't like circles.
Is it wrong to think about that robot in a sexual way? The only problem is, if I was building it, I would have put a vagina somewhere there. Maybe two.
You can't handle the truth.
It still looks weird without feet. It needs feet and big toes to be more like a human.
Oh, and also it needs to lose the metal beam connecting it to the circle, that's, I think, is the main difference between that and a human. That and all the metal.
You can't handle the truth.
Boston Dynamics' PETMAN could do its own balancing two years ago.
I shall go and tell the indestructible man that someone plans to murder him.
Would be better if they'd explained in their YouTube text that they were only testing forward balance, not lateral stability. Instead they claim it is "Running free", which is laughable.
Military contracts in 3... 2...
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
1. God it's loud. 2. What is with the bar? 3. We have so much better things to spend money on. 4. God it's loud.
Sissy runs like the Crushinator.
we build are own human replacement.
Yeah, shooting things in the head going to be real useful when the robots come~
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
And if you dress MABEL like a mail man, Big Dog would chase it down.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Give it a bomb and make it scream as it runs towards it's target...
Michigan's Ain't Balancing Electronic Lapmobile
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
"...spending 40% of her time three or four inches off the ground." Didn't know the programmers pleased her THAT much.
I am sure these chaps are terribly clever but Comic Sans? COMIC SANS????
Uhm.. Is little ms.. or that thing being dragged around in circles or what?
jesus my ears are bleeding.
That's the thing I just don't get with robot design. Why do we feel the need to give it bipedal locomotion? I could see a necessity for legs instead of wheels (more terrain mobility and all), but why not put it on four legs? Or six? And don't gimme that "so it has its arms free" explanation. We are not nature. We do not have to make the choice between arms and legs, we can have both on our robot.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
and it reminds me of that freaky 80's Herbie Hancock video, "Rockit". Still gives me the shivers...
expletives welcomed
Always mount a scratch robot if the DEC service Representative is going to be working on things.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Our environment is designed for human-sized bipedal forms, so it makes a certain amount of sense to design robots that are generally the same size/shape. That way they can use our buildings, elevators, stairs, appliances, etc.
If MABEL is not an acronym then why the fuck is it in all-caps?
Anybots.com has a MUCH better robot, that can stand on its own two feet, and jump. This is just a load of rubbish - being guided by a horizontal bar, no feet, really weird (and obviously WRONG) running motion, where it pauses as soon as the 'stump' hits the floor. Why didn't they just model it properly, on human running?
And would I be right in thinking that this robot wasn't developed by AFRICANS? Isn't that odd, seeing as they are allegedly just as intelligent as all the other races...
Look, here's Toyota's robot running. It's brief, but both feet do leave the floor for brief intervals. And instead of a support beam holding it to a fixed track, it uses this stuff called "feet" and a "sense of balance" to stay upright. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv35ItWLBBk
Why is that robot a she? Where are the breasts? Or does it simply complains a lot when it falls down?
The first thing that comes to my mind is Adventures in Odyssey, which is a Christian radio broadcast. Whit, a main character and inventor, has a really advanced computer program with a voice interface named Mabel (kind of like Jarvis from Iron Man).
Sure I sold you robot insurance. But you were attacked by a cyborg. Not covered.
That is interesting. It is actually decently forward balancing during the run and even when the mat slipped a bit it kept going.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154416/pleasure-model
Not impressed at all... it's balanced by a beam and cable and sounds like a trainwreck. Why didn't they just spend the money working to improve these things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3C5sc8b3xM
Really? Millions was spent on this shit.
Adapt their algorithm for the game QWOP then we'll see whether it's good or not!!
A most crucial part of walking and running is feet with ankles. Without that, it's "something else." By adding feet, they are going to change just about everything about the machine and how it would operate. If they want to have human-like walking, then there must be feet and they should never have gone forward with this "internediate" step as adapting might be just as difficult as starting over.
What they have there is a backward-walking "pan" robot...without feet.
If 'MABEL' is not an acronym, WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?!
(ObJinxSticker: Caps lock: Cruise control for awesome)
Excellent. I typed the first line in all caps (it was intended as humor) and faceplanted against slashduh's "Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING." -- me: exactly!
Didn't they already have that in the 1970ies?
As impressive as this may be, it still makes me feel like we have an awful lot of explaining to do to the likes of Jules Verne, Nicola Tesla, Isaac Asimov etc. Surely they would have imagined the state of the art of robotica in 2011 to be... different
Not only is the robot supported by a beam it also is supported by external power delivery and probably external computing as well. Robots that can not carry a reasonable power supply might be usable in a small space but not elsewhere.
Does it run like I run with QWOP?
I feel sorry for the office/lab below them...
What good will your sex robots be if they can run away from you?
I believe the correct comparison is to one of the old MIT leg lab's robots. 3D Biped wasn't restricted to a 1D track and could run and do somersaults--in 1992. And it didn't need no stinkin' knees either!
The AWESOM-O :-)
Thank you, sir - that link made my day.
How would something like a dog cook your food, serve you drinks, put away your groceries, or turn on your light switches?
I'll be here all week. ;)
Is it just me, or does MABEL sound like a Cylon when she's walking/running?
But does it run linux?
It's nice that they're doing this, but it's a bit late to be doing a planar walking/running machine. (It's supported so that it can't fall sideways, so it's a 2D balancing system instead of a 3D one, and is considered "planar", although it's going in a circle.) Compare Spring Flamingo, 1996-2000 at MIT.
This group doesn't seem to be addressing slip control or hills (which I've worked on), or twist control (first addressed by Jessica Hodgkins at Georgia Tech and by Honda). As soon as you go beyond flat, high-friction floors (these guys use rubber mats), slip control starts to dominate the problem. Take a look at Big Dog videos.
Twist control involves not inducing torso rotation, or at least cancelling it on the next half-stride, and is an additional problem bipeds face more than quadrupeds. Honda had a lot of trouble with that in the early days of Asimo. Planar bipeds can't twist, so this group gets to ignore that problem.
It's easier to work in this area than it was in the 1990s. Simulators are much better. CPUs are much faster. The theory is better. Control algorithms are better. Motors are better. Funding is better. There's no need to work on an oversimplified version of the problem any more.
is slashdot a usa zine?
every other year people claim to have made a robot that "walks like a human". so far i have heard of one project where "walking" did not consume enormous amounts of energy (ie for producing noise like here). nevertheless, most engineers do not seem to have a faint clue what walking is about.
as an exercise, try plugging your ears, start walking and listen to how much you stomp on the ground impacting your spine when you walk.
i'd be convinced if such a machine could "walk" like an animal without earthshattering vibrations.
i was referring to the fact that the video in question was about 10 times louder than the 'normal' audio on my system.
Does anyone else thinks it looks like a pair of fingers running around? I mean, I can totally emulate the movement with my hand.
I am not devoid of humor.
who heard Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" in my head while watching the video with sound off?
Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
replaced the whale that chases me in my nightmares.
Good people go to bed earlier.
How is this news? The thing has a bar attached to the hip...."Legs act as a load balancers"..as long as it is attached to the bar.
Ridiculous...cut the funding.
Black Label?
(No, not Johnny Walker. Go look up ad jingles from the '70's)
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
The headlines nowadays from these universities are misleading: I mean "flying robots", "running robots", "talking robots", etc... all giving us the vision of the post sky-net/Matrix world.
And we see videos that are 1 in 100 attempt, you know that one test it "looked cool".
The ideas are great, but I'm tried of these clean room hyped experiments.
don't get me wrong, this is an impressive technical feat (i suppose) but what is this obsession with imitating human bodies? where does the idea come from that humans are like the epitaph of efficiency and evolution ? Is it a religious thing, do all scientists have this urge to be bigger than their gods or something? Why not create something that surpasses, humans have no need for physical evolution since we have been living in symbiosis with external tools for, for exactly how long ? If evolution kills of the weakest link then huimans in their bare form would have probably gone extinct by now . Imitating human bodies and movement ? I don't see where the innovation is
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
has anyone told Mabel she runs like a girl?