Posted on 02/28/2017 7:23:43 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Google-owned robotics firm and “nightmare” factory Boston Dynamics has released video of its latest creation: a two-wheeled, four-legged hybrid robot named Handle.
The robot can stand on four legs, like Boston Dynamics’ previous creations such as BigDog and Spot. But at the end of its back two legs are two stabilised wheels, which let it stand up vertically and roll around at speeds of up to nine miles per hour. Think “Terminator riding on a hoverboard” and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the impression Handle gives off.
Boston Dynamics says the reason for the hybrid design is the simplicity it affords: rather than needing the complex joints of the fully-quadrupedal bots, Handle’s wheels can speed it around with little difficulty, while its front legs can be used for balance and for carrying loads of up to 50kg.
“Handle uses many of the same dynamics, balance and mobile manipulation principles found in the quadruped and biped robots we build,” Boston Dynamics said, “but with only about 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs, Handle can have the best of both worlds.” The video does not, however, show Handle walking rather that scooting around on its wheels.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Sally has been retrieved. The good news is that her hair looks great. The bad news is that they have bedbugs over at Jamie’s, and Sally has bites all over. Fortunately, she had only a couple of clothing items with her, as this wasn’t planned to be a 2-day trip, and they’re being run through a long hot-wash cycle to be followed by another long hot-dry cycle.
Bill put on a load of wash this morning, then took out his pants and shirt for work and ran them through the dryer, leaving the rest of his load still in the washer. WHO DOES THIS STUFF?!? WHO EVEN THINKS ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?!
Unless I’m posting from a beach in the Caribbean...
Then yes.
Life is treating you well?
Cool, robots are ok, I had a vision of a flying drone taking me out a long time ago in the ‘pre drone’ era.
Drones scare me.
Well enough. It’s a sneezy time of year.
Monomorphic just ran it this morning. He's been working to clean up anomalous signal noise and has isolated damn near everything including circuitry inside a LiPO battery pack he was using.
For those not following this, this is a propellentless motor. It produces thrust from a microwave signal in an enclosed "frustum", or truncated cone.
Physics is still scratching it's head over how this works, but everyone is in agreement that if it works in a vacuum, it is a HUGE game changer.
This 1W blip on the trace jpg he took represents enough power to lift a single sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Seems negligible, but popular ion thrusters are a fraction of that and help satellites keep station in orbit. Power one of these EM drives at 1KW and you are producing some serious and continuous thrust.
Ie; Mars orbital insertion in DAYS instead of MONTHS.
Oh yeah... And possibly flying cars. Or... Castles? :-)
Ohno! Not the dreaded bedbug infestation? Jamie needs to get that bedbug spray from Walmart and begin to spray any furniture that’s fabric, then wash everything washable.
I hope she can get rid of them soon. That is scary! I hate critters.
Jeeze. Maybe Bill’s laundry should be allowed to sour. I agree: WHO DOES THIS STUFF???
Oh. Wow. How cool is that? :o]
HK you are a genius!
The rules of Cricket are enough to overload even the most powerful Computational debice.
If that fails we move on to the concept of driving on the left.....
Jamie said they’ve scrubbed and bombed and all kinds of stuff. She also said they don’t bite her. Sally, however, gets all kinds of bites.
All good stuff. Thanks.
I’m something of a railfan; geeky about trains but not to the Rivet Counter level.
I always was, and still am, very sensitive to insect bites and stings. Which is probably why I have such an aversion to insects of any kind.
The sensitivity to the bites and stings is probably hereditary from my dad. He possibly had psoriasis, and that seems to be an indicator of reactions to 6-8 legged critters. (He used to used basalt from Mt Lassen in CA for his skin lesions.)
*shudder*
Basalt? Interesting.
I was reading a picture book to Kathleen earlier and found a description of our life:
“The house was filled with snoring, snarling, belching, badgering, grumbling, growling, loitering, looting, and lazing savages of all shapes and sizes.”
“Time to call an exterminator!” said Mom.
Yes, basalt. He kept it in a little vial with water, and he would shake it just before he used it. It must have worked, though I have no idea if it was valid or if he just thought it did and therefore, it did.
Wow! What a fun book to read! Kathleen probably has no idea how accurate that description is!
And now, folkses, since I slept so little last night, I’m going to go get parallel to the deck and let the mattress pad work its magic on my back.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll feel well enough to drive in to Vegas for the prescription.
See all y’all tomorrow!
I don’t think it was quite as amusing to Kathleen.
Hope you have a good night! The barbarians have worn me out, but I still have the Stewardship Committee to endure.
Renters.
Good point, but he did it when he was supposedly a contributing family member, too.
“WHO EVEN THINKS ABOUT DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT!?!”
As you are a seasoned Mom, I think your question is purely rhetorical.
There are none so confounding in real life as children, and the diligent parent insists upon positive change lest the sluggards continue in their ways and so become Democrats.
Driving on the LEFT. Oh, now THERE’S a hurdle.
Had some friends return here to California from a couple of weeks in the UK. The gentleman got up Monday morning, jumped in his truck, and pulled out of his drive into the left lane, as he had done daily for the prior two weeks.
Rounding a curve and coming grille-to-grille with another car he was, by the grace of God, at a wide place in the pavement, and so able to avoid disaster by some artful steering, which fright brought him to a sensible recollection of just which continent he was on.
No discussion of Fahrenheit 451 is complete without pinging montag813
Yes, I was just blowing off steam. I think Bill has too much exposure to logic to be a Democrat.
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.