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Boston Dynamics Introduces Their Newest Four-Legged Robot, 'Spot'
MicroHex writes: Boston Dynamics, creators of "Big Dog" recently unveiled their newest creation, "Spot." Originally funded by DARPA to develop the technology behind Big Dog, Boston Dynamics is currently owned by Google and continues its robotics research. From the video: "Spot is a four-legged robot designed for indoor and outdoor operation. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. Spot has a sensor head that helps it navigate and negotiate rough terrain. Spot weighs about 160 lbs."
Interesting to see how they went with similar legs in the front that are on the back, as opposed to the reversed legs on Big Dog. Reminds me of how some animals have long feet, where the 'heel' ankle are more like a reversed knee, and the actual knee is almost concealed up against the body.
I wonder if they're going to at some point combine the two with the leg designs, based on their efforts to date.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Wow, the stairs and the rough terrain!
These things are getting scary good, and I can't believe I felt bad about the thing getting kicked!
Is it house trained, or am I going to find a pile of batteries in odd corners of my house?
Something like this will probably be subjugating your descendants.
It's 2 kids and a blanket.
I wonder what the range is on Spot. It is significantly quieter than big dog and watching it go up that slope much more agile. If that could go for a 3+ hours it would have a huge number of uses!
The military options are there but civil rescue operations would benefit from these as well.
Forget dogs. I work in construction and want a friggin' dinosaur with an excavator and/or crane attached. Think about how awesome that would be, and very practical too because it could walk down into sensitive and hard to get to areas that tracks can't.
I can't wait until these are fully automated and smashing down the doors of "perps" in the middle of the night.
for extra creepy
his robot, Spot!"
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
because that's the thing that's going to finally make you realize that SWEET FIREBREATHING JESUS there's a giant whirring headless robot dog walking past the break room.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Great, this will help with our endless wars.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
OSHA requirements for robots in the workplace
6. Audible and Visible Warning Systems
Audible and visible warning systems are not acceptable safeguarding methods but may be used to enhance the effectiveness of positive safeguards. The purposes of audible and visible signals need to be easily recognizable.
https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaw...
Wherever You Go, There You Are
* I totally stole that joke from a 1970s era Mad Magazine, the (original) Battlestar Galactica spoof.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
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Cool, Like how it could adjust itself when the guy kicked it. Despite it being a robot, it was cringe worthy, almost like a living being being hurt. Wonder why it is called "Spot" though.
Big Dog and the cheetah were definitely in uncanny valley territory, but this thing seems far less threatening or scary. It has a much more natural gate.
I have one question. If the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture is not in charge of Gundam, then who is?
The OSHA regs were probably written around the traditional industrial manipulators that have *no* sensors to detect collisions, have large mass, move verrrrry fast, and have high joint torque. They live in safety cages, and there are interlocks on the control panels for when a human needs to go into the cage.
Bringing robots "out of the cage" is a topic of current research. It involves moving slower, reducing mass, lots of sensors to detect surroundings, and having backdrivable joints so that you can just push the robot out of the way if it bunts you. Kicking Spot on the flank is not just a demonstration of it's balancing algorithms. It says you can push it out of your way if you feel like it. I'd be interested in knowing what happens of you grab one of it's feet and hold on -- how much joint torque is present in the legs?
LegoLand San Diego has a ride that consists of a couple of chairs mounted on the end of some big industrial robot arms, (Kuka's, I think). You can pick your intensify from 1 to 5 -- my daughter and I chose 3, which is the first level where you go up side down. It was very good humor. Level 5 looked intense.... Anyway, I'm thinking saddling up a few Spots for robot races could be a cool ride :)
The problem with step 1 being "Did I hit a person?" is that step 2 could be "No? Then let me try again!".
With the Daleks, you could just climb some stairs to get away but not with these things.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Ah ah, at 1:25 it seems like one of the robots wants to mate with the other one!
Imagine going to boston dynamics for a meeting and you are sitting there at the lobby and look at the robots and then suddently one starts walking towards you.
Oh man, Boston dynamics, what a dream place to be. If i had more math skills, i'd apply for a job there immediately and move to states, but i'm just a lowly automation guy. Must be fun driving past Boston dynamics. If you hit the big dog, does the deer insurance pay?
But is it allowed to break the speed of sound in urban areas?
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.
Boston Dynamics, the comedic black hole for funding, never ceases to amuse with their funny and useless creations.
the video didn't auto-play.
It's plainly obvious when watching it climb stairs that it's just placing its feet down in a pattern, and when one misses a step or slips it moves forward a bit and tries again. What they need to get working on is placing each foot in a specific chosen spot. But that's a whole nother level of AI programming.
Does it come with a minigun?
to use it to explore Mars.