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 youll 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, Handles 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 ...
Good one!
We’ve acquired a cricked under the piano stand. It is chirping. If there’s time later, I’ll get a dragon out to hunt it.
Speaking of hunting, Shannon chased our squirrel. The squirrel was unimpressed.
By “unimpressed,” do you mean the squirrel held its ground and ate popcorn while he waited to be caught by Shannon?
The form for USDA housing asks a lot more pertinent questions than the one from HUD, so I’m hoping I get an apartment there. Hurricane (pronounced Hurrikin) is a lot smaller and will be easier to navigate, though I know the entire area is growing. Still, I’ll be away from here, and that’s the goal.
I’m out of coffee and creamer, so all I have to take out with me to the ramada is water. *sigh* Yesterday, I used the last coffee pod and the last of the creamer. My bad.
So I powered up my keyboard to play this morning...
And ungodly noise issued with every key press...
Now in spite of the the fact that some will say that is normal when I play, it wasn’t . On this keyboard there are two ‘main’ sound settings - program and mix. The mix setting gives you some preselected combos of the various sounds in the machine while the program setting normally produces just the standard preset sounds. The mix setting worked fine. The program setting produced extremely unusual results.
To help my brain I write a note on the top of each song sheet indicating what sound setting I normally use for that song so with half of the functionality acting demon possessed I had to ‘wing it’. I managed to make it through by selecting mix voices on the fly but the mostly random selections were not all that bad.
Problem is that we have a service this evening to install the new pastor and of course the band is playing. I dug out my manual for the keyboard and looked up how to ‘reset to factory’ to attempt to restore things to normal. I have to assume that there is nothing wrong with the sound engine or the cpu chip since it does work properly on half of its settings...
If that procedure is successful in exorcising the demon I will still wonder what happened. Since this keyboard stays in the church I don’t know what happens to it in my absence (I’m pretty sure none of the other musicians touch any gear but their own but that is no guarantee that some other curious fingers didn’t poke where they didn’t belong.) It does remember what setting was ‘up’ when it is powered off so if someone was playing around and poked a strange combination of keys that combo would be functional when it powered back on. Or... a nearby lightening strike or power burp, even though the stuff is turned off when not in use and is on an APC surge suppressor (not always a guarantee of protection.)
If it returns to normal after reset all will be well, else I will be extremely upset. ;-)
The squirrel hopped casually over to the elm tree and ran up the trunk, leaving Shannon sitting in the grass looking confused.
Squirrels among trees treat the world (and its cats) as if they are all part of an M. C. Escher stairscape. Gravity has no meaning for them.
True. Squirrels have the trees. Shannon’s trying climb a tree is pathetic.
The keyboard was successfully exorcised..
To eliminate the possibility of a surge sneaking past the surge suppressor, I unplugged the feed when I covered up the equipment at the end of the night..
So much squee this morning!
I didn’t want to get up, but its wash day, and I just finished sorting the clothes.
One day soon I will have to sort through my yarns and threads and donate a lot to make room for more important things. I may start on that this week, in my packing frenzy. We shall see how today goes.
It would not be beyond the realm of possibility that the keyboard fell victim to small fingers wanting to make a joyful noise.
It’s good that you were able to exorcise it, though. Or at least whip it back into shape.
Job is an interesting book, but takes some intellectual wrestling. It’s not as relaxing as Psalms - which means it’s no substitute for pink drink.
Good morning, all.
The insanity begins again.
The longitudinal cracks run clear through to the exterior.... Years with nary a leak.
Coffee, holds my world together
LOL!
I can’t believe you washed your coffee mug! LOL! Were you never in the military?? ;o]
I got much more out of Job this time than I did the first time, but I think the next time will be even better. Some Books read like fabrications, and others are so steeped in reality that the events can be documented.
I enjoy reading the Scriptures.
I’m back from the laundromat and now I have to hang the clothes up. I had to take another pain pill, so I’m letting it work before I go do that thing.
I don’t know how my body is going to respond to not having pills except at night, but I’ll find out. Right now, it’s still telling me its the boss o’ me. If only the nausea would leave...
Lemme guess—you got it during a Ming Dynasty fire sale. They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to.
I got the shot in my shoulder. Dr. Hall gave me the sad face and strongly suggested I get to physical therapy before whatever is wrong gets worse. I told I would look into it for July, after we get through day camp and swim team.
The physical therapy for my dislocated shoulder was lots of movement of the upper arm while I was in the shower. I let the hot water do its job on the painful muscles and tendons.
It was much cheaper that PT at some clinic. And every once in a while when it bothers me, I’ll do that again.
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.