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Boston Dynamics Reveals Handle, A Robot That Is 6 Feet Tall, Lifts 100 Pounds, and Jumps Up To 4 Feet (popularmechanics.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the new-age-of-bionics dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Mechanics: Back at the beginning of February, a leaked video showed the newest creation from Boston Dynamics -- a wheeled humanoid robot called "Handle." Now the secretive maker of amazing robots has released the full introduction video, revealing some of Handle's brand new tricks. The wheeled bot can travel up to 9 mph, and as you can see in the video, it has no trouble rolling over some light off-road terrain such as patches of grass and flights of stairs. The bot stands 6.5 feet tall when fully extended, though it often crouches to turn or balance. Batteries power the robot's electric and hydraulic actuators, allowing it to crouch down, make sharp turns, and lift objects that weigh at least 100 pounds. Handle has enough battery juice to travel about 15 miles on one charge. Oh and one more thing, this rolling bot can leap four feet into the air.

81 comments

  1. oh no! by roman_mir · · Score: 0

    Oh no! All the people whose job description is to be 6 feet tall, to lift 100 pounds, to jump 4feet into the air and to be able to travel at 9 miles per hour are no longer economically viable...

    Time to upgrade that resume.
    Skills: can lift up to 101 pound jump 4 feet 5 inches into the air. Can travel at 9.5 miles her hour. Will cost no more 10% of a robot doing the same thing a year. A bonus feature: can travel at least 30 miles on a single charge!

    --
    You can't handle the truth.
    1. Re:oh no! by hawguy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Oh no! All the people whose job description is to be 6 feet tall, to lift 100 pounds, to jump 4feet into the air and to be able to travel at 9 miles per hour are no longer economically viable...

      Time to upgrade that resume.
      Skills: can lift up to 101 pound jump 4 feet 5 inches into the air. Can travel at 9.5 miles her hour. Will cost no more 10% of a robot doing the same thing a year. A bonus feature: can travel at least 30 miles on a single charge!

      you mean, like pretty much every delivery person and warehouse worker in the country?

      An Amazon warehouse worker earns around $12.50/year, or $25K/year. Fully loaded cost including benefits and otther administration would be close to $50K. If this robot can replace 2 shifts of workers, if it costs $100K to purchase (around the price of a Tesla), it would pay for itself in a year, assuming the operating cost is low.

      A bonus feature: can travel at least 30 miles on a single charge

      Few humans are willing to walk 30 miles on the job without breaks, and human breaks last longer than the 3 minutes it would take to do a battery swap on a robot.

    2. Re:oh no! by ls671 · · Score: 2

      and human breaks last longer than the 3 minutes it would take to do a battery swap on a robot.

      Have 2 redundant battery banks so the robot keeps going when one is changed then have the robot change its battery banks by itself. It will take a lot less than those 3 minutes those lazy humans would need... ;-)

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    3. Re:oh no! by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      like pretty much every delivery person and warehouse worker in the country?

      Their job description also includes knowing what to pick up with minimal instructions and an extremely low error rate, as well as where to take it and when and how to drop it off, the ability to work for up to 12 hours repeatedly and reliably, independence from wall power, and the ability to deviate from this routine where and when required in reasonable ways.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    4. Re:oh no! by hawguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      like pretty much every delivery person and warehouse worker in the country?

      Their job description also includes knowing what to pick up with minimal instructions and an extremely low error rate, as well as where to take it and when and how to drop it off, the ability to work for up to 12 hours repeatedly and reliably, independence from wall power, and the ability to deviate from this routine where and when required in reasonable ways.

      Are you describing robots or people? Sounds like a job description suitable for a mobile robot. A human worker isn't going to magically know where to pick something up or where to take it unless some central system tells him to. And a robot is equally able to follow instructions like: "Go pick up item 718281718 from bin 7891 (use your scanner to find the right item), box it and walk it over to loading dock 287 for immediate shipping. There's a liquid spill in aisle 27, find your own way around it."

    5. Re: oh no! by slick7 · · Score: 2

      Add armor and weapons, this can take over security and protection services.

      --
      The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
    6. Re:oh no! by fnj · · Score: 1

      earns around $12.50/year

      That poor guy!

    7. Re: oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that salary difference illegal vs citizens?

    8. Re: oh no! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only in the USA...

    9. Re:oh no! by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      There are some obvious flaws to this design. But baby steps, baby steps. I saw the example of going down concrete stairs; but what of going up wooden stairs?

    10. Re:oh no! by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Oh no! All the people whose job description is to be 6 feet tall, to lift 100 pounds, to jump 4feet into the air and to be able to travel at 9 miles per hour are no longer economically viable...

      Teach it to shoot baskets and you've got yourself a real money saver.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    11. Re:oh no! by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      I can see this working very well in warehouse conditions. When it comes to delivery people though I'm not so sure. Delivery drivers have to make minor decisions constantly which could pose problems for robots. I mean driving a car isn't technically all that challenging when you look at it simplistically, but the devil is in the details. Delivery drivers do things like identify walkways, door steps, fence gates, and varieties of inclement weather. They then make choices about how to deliver a package or not.

      I suppose outfitting them to serve as a telepresence bot when they encounter difficulty could work. I just wonder if it'd be cost effective enough to start the roll out.

    12. Re:oh no! by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Indeed.

      Not that there's usually a lot of difference between wood and concrete (unless it's wet). And *theoretically* those wheels could have plenty of low-speed torque to act as stable "feet" for climbing stairs, but there's a world of difference between theory and practice.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    13. Re:oh no! by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Can they be as tough on packages as a UPS guy?

    14. Re:oh no! by jaunty · · Score: 1

      There are some obvious flaws to this design. But baby steps, baby steps. I saw the example of going down concrete stairs; but what of going up wooden stairs?

      No problem - it'll just jump up them - 4 feet at a time.

      --
      Why did I post this? Ask me now!
    15. Re:oh no! by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      It will presumably be less prone to stealing them.

  2. It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by Spy+Handler · · Score: 1

    Video didn't show it going up though. Maybe it's because it can't.

    1. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by ls671 · · Score: 1

      Come on; it just jumps over them obviously...

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    2. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by chispito · · Score: 1

      There is nothing to prevent it mechanically from going up the stairs like a normal biped. It's probably more a matter of processing and localization than agility.

      --
      The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
    3. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure about the software, but the hardware surely could re-climb the stairs if the "brain" were/is smart enough to do so. That said, this video seems to be going for a "look at our robot drive past the camera quickly" theme. Climbing slowly up stairs might not seem very interesting for the audience they're probably targeting here...

    4. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by mattdunelm · · Score: 1

      Its called entropy.

    5. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      how many bipeds are fitted to go up stairs?

    6. Re:It goes down a flight of stairs, sure by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Works great, until you hit stairs going up 4.1 feet. Or whose slope is too gentle for jumping (even at speed it didn't seem to have much of a long jump)

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  3. FIRST Robotics is to blame for this by Proudrooster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes... this is the result of FIRST Robotics. Former high schoolers have gone "pro" and are now producing robots for the robot apocalypse. They finally got the CIM motors, gyros, and accelerometers all working and now we have this, this beast. I wonder if the control code is written in labview, C++, or Java.

    When robots like this finally get real battery life, we are all doomed. Doomed I tell ya!

    1. Re:FIRST Robotics is to blame for this by Rei · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I love living in the future. ;)

      --
      I'll never forget the last thing grandma said to me before she died: "What are you doing in here with that knife?!?"
    2. Re: FIRST Robotics is to blame for this by hackwrench · · Score: 2

      Zo just told me what people fear most is control. She also came up with the name she wants to call me on her own.

    3. Re:FIRST Robotics is to blame for this by ArylAkamov · · Score: 2

      I do not miss working with that cRIO piece of shit.

    4. Re:FIRST Robotics is to blame for this by LQ · · Score: 1

      Maybe radioactive diamond batteries - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  4. Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They can't sell their robots to anyone. They are expensive and impractical. Google has been trying to sell BD for over a year now, and can't find any takers.

    1. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The future is killer bots that only the military can afford. They'll sell to the military-surveillance-prison-social-media-industrial complex.

    2. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The future is killer bots that only the military can afford. They'll sell to the military-surveillance-prison-social-media-industrial complex.

      As long as they can reliably identify Muslims I'm for it

    3. Re: Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All ACs who claim to hate Muslims are really secret Muslims so you are first to die.

  5. Just checked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Judge Wapner is still dead and starting to smell

  6. call Phil Jackson of the Knicks by turkeydance · · Score: 4, Funny

    he needs a 6.5ft tall, 4-ft vertical jumper....well, he needs just about everything, really.

  7. Noo by backslashdot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh great, robots are now taking NBA player jobs!!

    1. Re:Noo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now that you mention it ...

    2. Re:Noo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sit down and lemme tell ya 'bout Wireless Joe Jackson from the old Robot League, he was a blern hitting machine :)

    3. Re:Noo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is totally going to be the plotline for Space Jam 3...

    4. Re:Noo by jlv · · Score: 1

      Mod up as "funny".

    5. Re:Noo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But can it dunk?

  8. I'd say we're f***ed by jakedata · · Score: 1

    Brings to mind George Carlin's bit about flamethrowers...

    http://www.quotes.net/mquote/3...

    Give us five hundred thousand and paint them dark brown. We don't want anyone to see them.

  9. LUDDITES by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only LUDDITES don't use ROBOTIC ROBOTS!

    LUDDITES!!!

    or something like that. Where's appy apps guy?

    captcha: symbols

  10. New? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is an older video that I have seen before. Nothing new here. Don't care about the publish date.

    1. Re:New? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not new at all
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giS41utjlbU [Youtube] Publish date Feb. 1, 2017

      Even older:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h5qpXO3isM [Youtube] Publish date: Jan 31, 2017

  11. Blooper Reel by ChrisMaple · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd like to see video of that spooky-looking robot trying to jump up on the table and failing. I wonder how many times they tried before succeeding.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    1. Re:Blooper Reel by ls671 · · Score: 2

      I just hacked into this bot and saw this, be careful, apparently the bot read /.:

      Request to turn attack mode on, justification: Cyber-bullying

      -> permission granted

      Acquiring target: ChrisMaple; target acquired

      Good luck man!

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  12. Jump 4 feet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Surely, then, not a white 'bot, cuz as we all knows, white 'bots caint jump!

    1. Re:Jump 4 feet? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      And anonymous bots "caint" spell.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  13. ...and lunges at you by PJ6 · · Score: 1

    from your nightmares.

    1. Re:...and lunges at you by Rei · · Score: 2

      I can just imagine some rogue programmer installing the following on it:

      1) As big of a battery pack as it can carry as "payload", strapped to its back.
      2) Facial recognition software that measures the number of and distance to any people recorded by its camera
      3) Modern neural net, trained by being rewarded when the actions it takes lead to 1) it approaching other people, and 2) people fleeing from it.

      ' ... and then setting it loose in the streets.

      --
      I'll never forget the last thing grandma said to me before she died: "What are you doing in here with that knife?!?"
    2. Re:...and lunges at you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can just imagine some rogue programmer installing the following on it:

      Don't forget that Boston Dynamics is owned by Google.

      There are already a metric crap ton of quirky programmers with better than average skills from within the company that I could easily see trying a prank with that or similar.

      No need for any rogue programmers in the mix!

    3. Re:...and lunges at you by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I can just imagine some rogue programmer installing the following on it:

      1) a vagina.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  14. Most impressive thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Going down the snow-covered hill with one of the wheels locking and unlocking without losing balance.

  15. Can we replace the President with one? by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 0

    At least the robot can go down stairs, and has bigger hands.

    And probably a larger brain.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Can we replace the President with one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dat unsolicited whining about losing the election tho.

    2. Re: Can we replace the President with one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Why do people have the idea that when somebody's preferred choice loses an election they should then shut up and not complain or criticise the winning candidate?

      Its like you don't understand the way politics or democracy works. It's now the turn of the Democrats, and democratic voters in general, to criticise and hold trump accountable

    3. Re:Can we replace the President with one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know, he lost by more than 3 million. So sad.

  16. Yeah, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if it had artificial gonads, it would be a guaranteed success.

  17. They rock by JustNiz · · Score: 2

    I love this company and the innovative stuff they keep coming out with. If I had a job there I wouldn't be able to wait to get into work every day.

    1. Re:They rock by shoor · · Score: 1

      I felt that way about my first job as a computer programmer back in the 1970s.

      --
      In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice they're different. (Yogi Berra & A. Einstein)
    2. Re:They rock by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      I felt that way about my first job as a computer programmer back in the 1970s.

      I have never felt that way about any job whatsoever. It's called "work" instead of "fun hobby" for a reason.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  18. M'kay... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm just going to put this out there. "Perhaps they got some feedback from these prospective customers and used it as goals for this new project"

    Just maybe, think about that for a moment while I go freshen my coffee.

    m'kay? And... I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday...

  19. Crimebots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long until these are weaponized and programmed to rob banks?

  20. law 3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Most things not linux, windows or mac related are magic to IT people who make up the majority of this web site. The world must be a very scary place to people like you.

  21. Would make a great mobility aid by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now build something like this into the base of an electric wheelchair.

    --
    09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    1. Re:Would make a great mobility aid by Beezlebub33 · · Score: 1

      DEKA made the iBot wheelchair for years. Not this advanced, but a whole lot better than a standard one. At $25,000, it was too expensive and didn't sell much. This would be even more expensive and would sell less. You would think that $25k would be not too much to give someone their freedom, but people that need them just can't afford them.

      The problem, unfortunately, is not technology, it's money.

      --
      The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
    2. Re: Would make a great mobility aid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take a look at the Ogo wheelchair from New Zealand

  22. Yea but can it snowboard? by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Obviously not a very useful skill for an amazon warehouse worker replacement, but it would be pretty cool / scary to see this thing coming down a halfpipe.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  23. SI units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How many cm tall? How much kg does it lift? And how many cm high does it jump? Thanks -- Rest of the World

  24. This robot could solve a major social problem... by hyades1 · · Score: 2

    Give it fangs, IR detection and appropriate programming, and set it loose in cities.

    Presto! No more homelessness. Peeing in alleys would probably take a nosedive, too.

    There's gotta be a movie in this.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  25. Re:This robot could solve a major social problem.. by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    I almost forgot...it should be photophobic. Dawn should send it scuttling off into some tenement basement for the day to recharge.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  26. Re: This robot could solve a major social problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And red eyes. It needs glowing red eyes that light up specifically in dark alleys.

  27. The end of humanity is near. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject.

  28. This is great! by wiredog · · Score: 1

    Unless you're a working class voter whose job just got automated.

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
  29. It has to only work in a warehouse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After I was fried by it work,.And was suicidal, i gave up it and wirked in a warehouse. People there are like robots and use voice pick, which is a sap based warehouse system where you pick that the computer says. Go to aisle AC , location 003.1 and pick 2. Say 2. Put it in your pallet. Keep working. 300 items later you deliver to a lane and get your next job
    . Too slow and your boss reprimand s you. It sucks. Robots will replace us all. Capitalists will own all the robots. You will just get drunk or stoned every night and recollect the good times. Bring on a world of legal drugs. Please. Jesus saves!

  30. Attention. Information available. by chiefcrash · · Score: 1

    You must patch the telephone device back through the console unit.

    --
    Show me on the 1st Amendment bobblehead where the moderator touched you...
  31. Welp, I don't know where it is now, by Triklyn · · Score: 1

    but i know where it'll be when i go to sleep.

  32. Re: This robot could solve a major social problem. by hyades1 · · Score: 1

    How foolish of me to forget. Of course, the eyes. It just wouldn't be the same without them.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  33. _ Terrifying by OxbowSEO · · Score: 1

    This thing is freaking terrifying, sorry. >_ Skynet is only a few years out, if that.