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MIT Trains Robots To Jump

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-don't-tell-them-how-important-necks-and-heads-are-to-humans dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes: MIT just announced that its researchers have programmed a robotic cheetah that can leap over obstacles without a prompt from a human controller. The machine's onboard sensors rely on reflected laser-light to judge obstacles' distance and height, and use that data to fuel the algorithm for a safe jump. The robot's controlling algorithm takes into account such factors as the speed needed to launch its mass over the obstacle, the best position for a jump, and the amount of energy required from the onboard electric motor. As of this writing, the robot can clear 90 percent of obstacles on an open track. "A running jump is a truly dynamic behavior," Sangbae Kim, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, is quoted as saying in a university press release. "You have to manage balance and energy, and be able to handle impact after landing. Our robot is specifically designed for those highly dynamic behaviors." For years, some tech pundits have worried that robots and software will gradually replace human workers in key industries such as manufacturing and IT administration. Now they have something else to fret over: Robots replacing the world's hurdlers.

37 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. WOW ... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

    You know, somehow I'm betting a significant chunk of Slashdotters can't do a running jump without falling on their ass. ;-)

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:WOW ... by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 2
      What's a "significant chunk"? 1%? 10%? 50%? I've been doing parkour since it was called PT. I'm not much for team sports, though.

      I bet the robot can't anticipate the steep cliff behind the object it's jumping over, or the edge of the building behind the parapet. So some humans still have a few advantages. We can still trap the bloody things in pits.

      Come to think of it, there were robot attack dogs in Fahrenheit 451. With procaine.

    2. Re:WOW ... by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      I'd say there's a sizeable chunk of us that can run on a sandy beach, a rocky beach, a mountain trail, or a cityscape. This robot has been designed specifically to jump hurdles on a standard cinder track, no more, no less.

      Yeah; you and the GP agree (as do I) -- the GGP is remembering the Slashdot of last decade that even then we joked about. Even back in college I tended to go out "city running" as we called it back then instead of joining the MTG circle in the catacombs of the CS building. Nothing helps sharpen the mind quite as much as knowing that if you judge wrongly, you will be hospitalized.

      If they're making a robotic cheetah, then their next step should be to get it to mimic how a cat falls from a height in any orientation -- if they can get it to master that too, then it doesn't really need to know about the steep cliff, as it'll always land on its feet. Of course, they also would have to give it a windbreak of some sort and bring its mass down far enough that its terminal velocity isn't enough to damage it on impact. Doable, I think.

    3. Re:WOW ... by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      Why should I run and jump when there is a perfect capable (and awesome) robot that can do it for me?

      Robots will take our jobs and our exercise routines!

    4. Re:WOW ... by penandpaper · · Score: 3, Funny

      they succeed in "falling on their ass"

      I am an expert at sitting on my ass you insensitive clod!

    5. Re:WOW ... by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      I read the headline and summary and thought "Voltron: the early years", but sadly as awesome as this vision was, it wasn't enough to induce me to read the actual article :(

    6. Re:WOW ... by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      It's a robotic cheetah. It won't be running and jumping FOR you, It'll be running and jumping TO HUNT you!

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    7. Re:WOW ... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I have a neckbeard (big one too) and I would drive to the kitchen if I could. (Somehow I am still fairly fit and skinny but I do not ever actively exercise for the sake of health.)

      KGIII

      (Posting AC because I was too vocal today and /. is run by absolutist ninnies.)

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    8. Re:WOW ... by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Heh! Cool, it let me post with my moniker. I probably should have (not entirely sure how) checked that... Oh well.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  2. Robot Apocalypse One Leap Closer by kwiecmmm · · Score: 1

    Thanks MIT!!! Now we can't set up small barriers to stop the robots from making their advances.

    Not to mention it is a "robotic cheetah"... good luck out running that.

  3. some pundits by magarity · · Score: 1

    some tech pundits have worried that robots and software will gradually replace human workers in key industries such as manufacturing and IT administration

    "Some"? WTF??? Absolutely *ALL* the gizelle pundits are worried robots will replace actual cheetahs now.

    1. Re:some pundits by thedonger · · Score: 1

      Poacher Virus, anyone?

      --
      Help fight poverty: Punch a poor person.
  4. Re:Famous last words by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    Don't worry. Robots have no reason to want to harm slow, inferior, annoying humans.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  5. Pink? by jklovanc · · Score: 1

    Is there a reason why all the obstacles are flat, low and pink? Can the lasers only see pink objects? What happens with higher/lower objects? What happens with irregular objects? What happens with different coloured objects? What happens on irregular ground?

    1. Re:Pink? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Is there a reason why all the obstacles are flat, low and pink?

      Most likely because they already had some pink Styrofoam lying around.

      Can the lasers only see pink objects?

      Who cares? Obstacle detection with lasers is already a solved problem, and that was NOT the point of this research. The point is the algorithms and mechanism of jumping.

    2. Re:Pink? by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      Is there a reason why all the obstacles are flat, low and pink? Can the lasers only see pink objects? What happens with higher/lower objects? What happens with irregular objects? What happens with different coloured objects? What happens on irregular ground?

      I think you've just given them assignments B, C, D, and E :)

    3. Re:Pink? by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      Most likely because they already had some pink Styrofoam lying around.

      If you actually look at the idea you will see that there is pink paper taped to white foam.

      Obstacle detection with lasers is already a solved problem,

      If all the obstacles have to be pink to be detected that might be an issue.

    4. Re:Pink? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      Is there a reason why all the obstacles are flat, low and pink?

      That's because the obstacles are meant to represent people gunned down by the robotic cheetah. Robot Cheetah will need to leap over them to gun down more people. Otherwise, we could just send wave after wave of men at the robot cheetahs until they are blocked in by corpses.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    5. Re:Pink? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      If all the obstacles have to be pink to be detected that might be an issue.

      Thousands of cars already have laser based obstacle detection that works in real time at highway speed. They work just fine with non-pink objects. They may have used pink in this instance just to make their image analysis easier. The color of the obstacles has no significance whatsoever to the basics of jumping and landing, and it is silly to fixate on that.

    6. Re:Pink? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I have my own personal reasons but MIT, as a whole, almost never fails to impress me. I even appreciate it when they put a car on the roof or make the roof into R2D2.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  6. Re: One can only hope by DickBreath · · Score: 1

    I assume communication failures also count as 'system down'?

    It seems like the easiest way to give the average backhoe operator launch authority.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  7. Re:can it jump the shark? by Woeful+Countenance · · Score: 1

    Ill-tempered mutated sea bass.

  8. Sure but... by RevWaldo · · Score: 1

    ...can it play The Hole in the Wall?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    .

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  9. Re:One can only hope by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 1

    that in a divine justice way, the researchers who develop these things are close by when Skynet turns these robots into killing machines.

    Naw...the next step is to make the robot bi-pedal with a shiny chrome plated metal endoskeleton, able to run and jump and carry a large mini-gun at the same time. THEN Skynet will do its dirty work!

    --
    You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
  10. INB4 AIMEE by kheldan · · Score: 1

    The future is now. http://www.johnwallaceart.com/...

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  11. Re:Why are writers such idiots. by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

    I think it was an attempt at humour.

  12. Boston Dynamics? by seven+of+five · · Score: 1

    Looks like one of the Boston Dynamics machines. Also interesting is it seems to be self-powered and not with a noisy motor like Big Dog.

    1. Re:Boston Dynamics? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Boston Dynamics came out of MIT IIRC. I would not be totally surprised if they had something to do with it and it just was not mentioned in the summary. I, of course, did not RTFA. That is against the rules.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    2. Re:Boston Dynamics? by Whiteox · · Score: 1

      Partially DARPA funded according to the FA with no mention of Boston Dynamics. That means the world will have jumping robotic military units in the near future. Looks like a pack animal though, so I envision it to be support or scouting. What it needs is a head and jaws with sharp fangs to be scary.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  13. No Escape! by HighOrbit · · Score: 1

    Next thing you know, the Daleks will climb stairs and there will be no escaping! (Yes, I know Daleks are not technically robots)

  14. Front leg jumping by gringer · · Score: 1

    What I'm most impressed by with the videos is that it looks like the initial power for the jumping is coming from the front legs, rather than the back legs (which have more leverage).

    It seems to be the case (at least on one standing start cheetah jump that I've seen, as well as a lion jump) that the front legs are moved back for balance and the back legs used for the power push for the jump.

    --
    Ask me about repetitive DNA
  15. look at the back legs by Chirs · · Score: 1

    The reason why this thing uses the front legs for the initial vertical push is that the back legs are shorter than on most running animals. Notice when it's running that the back legs and front legs never overlap, while on an actual cheetah their back legs stretch forwards past the front legs in order to allow the more powerful hind muscles to do more of the work.

  16. Re:Why are writers such idiots. by Whiteox · · Score: 1

    Naah... he was expecting a comment like "Wow! Wouldn't it be wonderful to have robot hurdle games" etc but I'm not going to do it.

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  17. Re:Slashdot Media Trains Users to Malware Install by Khyber · · Score: 1

    You think I'm crazy. I told you fucks about the NSA back in 2003. Guess what? I was RIIIIIIIIIIGHT.

    And I'm right here. CentOS is pretty shit. So is /.'s security.

    Soylent isn't any better, either. They're running an OLDER codebase. They're more vulnerable, even after I forced them to patch their shit.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  18. Re:Slashdot Media Trains Users to Malware Install by Whiteox · · Score: 1

    http://www.gimp.org/ explains the situation well enough. As far as SF is concerned, they are just joining the same crowd like CNET etc. Sure it's a downer and maybe we can't do much about it except READ, understand and opt-out of the installer routines. There was one free ogg converter that forced me to download and run an installer, which installed another installer before I could actually download the program. I think I had to opt-out of 6 BHOs and other crapware. Turns out it wasn't worth the effort in the end. Fortunately I found this: http://www.boxoft.com/ogg-to-m... with no adware and an excellent piece of software. I'm happy to recommend it. So with eyes open you can wade through the crap but a lot of the installers attempt different forms of trickery that would fool a lot of people. The fact that SF has gone down that path must hurt though.

    --
    Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  19. Robotic Attack "Animal" by fygment · · Score: 1

    "We've got a runner ... release the iHound ... "

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
  20. Re:Just A Thought by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    I cannot help but wonder of the judgement of my stating, "Hay MIT, how about building a robot that put a nail in a piece of wood?"