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Boston Dynamics' PETMAN Humanoid On Video
An anonymous reader writes "IEEE reports that Boston Dynamics has unveiled video footage showing its biped humanoid robot PETMAN walking, kneeling, and doing push-ups. Boston Dynamics is building the robot for the U.S. Army, which will use it to test chemical protective suits for soldiers. The requirement was that the robot had to be the approximate size of a 50th percentile adult male (180 pounds, nearly 6 feet tall) and capable of a full range of dynamic movements. The company says PETMAN could also be used to survey disaster zones and access hazardous environments."
Am I the only one who heard the Rocky theme song in my head while I watched it?
If the robot starts punching meat we know we got a contenda
(until then, you're a bum PETMAN! A BUM!)
crazy dynamite monkey
With this, humans won't need take BigDog for a daily walk anymore.
Yeah a robot called "PET MAN" that kneels and has no head.
This robot must have been designed by a woman.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Sorry, Ive been a bit out of the robotics loop lately, but holey freaking crap. If that isnt "uncanny valley" freaky, I dont know what is. It seems we really will see something resembling 100% humanoid robots in my lifetime. Tethered or not (think factory worker, hazmat, or ... military...) this is amazingly cool (creepy).
Pet _MAN
How appropriate.
It will be a hit with woman.
It let's itself be pushed around,
It checks the toilet seat state.
It proposes on one knee.
The only flaw I see, is that it only seems to know the missionary position...
These robots they're developing are cool and everything but their usefulness seems very limited until someone can come up with a suitable power supply. Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem like we're anywhere close to something that could fit inside this robot and power it for any significant length of time.
giggity
Is it also going to lust after Kirk Doulgas' hot young wife? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_3
Yeah, the "Respiration, sweating," etc. threw me off too. My guess, based on the rest of the article is that the requirement isn't that it sweat and breathe, but that it not produce more moisture or heat than a human under the same exertion. That would allow it to use equipment that was tested with humans such as weaponry, testing equipment for dangerous environments or bomb-defusing tools. For example, if it threw off lots of heat when walking, it might not be something you want to use for bomb disposal...
A comparison to make here is with Neill Blomkamp's pre District 9 work, the Tetra Vaal short.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6645931304419661379