Posted on 01/03/2017 1:55:38 PM PST by Hostage
Boston Dynamics, the company behind some of the most impressively terrifying and terrifyingly impressive robots of the past decade, is demonstrating its softer side with a video showcasing the Alphabet-owned firms latest creation.
The SpotMini is a sort of tiny robot giraffe capable of an impressive battery of skills, demonstrated in the video by jaunting up a flight of stairs, putting dishes in the dishwasher and (somewhat begrudgingly) delivering a can of soda.
Boston Dynamics
The robot is both more adorable (in that David Lynch directing a Transformers movie kind of way) and significantly smaller and lighter than the firms other offerings, weighing 55 pounds dripping wet or 65, if you add on that arm/head combo.
.................
(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...
Here's a YouTube link of the video embedded in the source:
Next to the last scene, why didn’t it mimic peeing on the yellow hydrant????
Lol!
Well on the way to being useful. The price point is important.
Can we have it prowl the perimeter cheaper than a dog to maintain?
im a mechanical engineer so understand if these were internal prototypes. but making PR videos with them is nuts.
look at the honda asimo and see how polished the intended perception is
Closer to cyborgs
Eggs Ackley! We accept them into our society as programmed tools, then a Stavros comes along (Soros anyone?) and puts evil mutants into them and takes over!
Imagine a billion robotic brain-like-Soros machines roaming the planet!
lol! They grow into teenagers.
Then they eat the brushes :(
Flemish Giants can defeat any modern technology.
That’s pretty funny :) Gave me a good laugh at the mental picture, thanks!
THAT needs to be a video on youtube!
They’re repulsive because they’re so insect-like. If they expect wide acceptance and adoption, they’re going to have to cede some control from the engineers to visual designers. They’re currently ugly as sin and can be rather sinister.
I’ll share some videos/pics sometime
These are prototypes not ready for commercialization. They are proof of concept models made for demonstration and testing.
Engineers, mathematicians, and physicists marvel at the advances in the agility and dexterity of these models. Those are the takeaways.
In an industrial factory, these robots can be adapted to tasks requiring picking. sorting, pattern recognition, monitoring, etc. In such settings, no one will care what they look like.
In homes and consumer settings in general, it’s a different story. The appearance will be crafted to fit with home decor and home life. Same with hospitals, restaurants, etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.