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 ...
After my constitutional, I went back out with my sun hat and a dish and picked blackberries for an hour. Now I’ll have to look up a recipe to make something with them.
I’m actually a mom. But Happy Father’s Day to all the dads.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Undead Dads!
I just used my ping list. I know some of us have had to do double duty as a mom and a dad, but I figure also that everyone of us has had a dad, and today is Dad’s Day, so I wanted to honor all dads, living or in Heaven.
It’s what I do! ;o]
I just came in from being with Charlie. The ramada is very nice in this kind of weather. It’s shady and open to the breeze, but the pigeons and other flying rats have to stay on the roof.
Of course, the two times I was out this morning, I came back in to the smell of cigarette smoke from my neighbor. I didn’t get a filter this payday, and now I’m really regretting it. I don’t think I have enough to get one, either, as what I have has to go for food.
I’m so glad that Utah has banned smoking in housing!!!
Lunch today is tuna salad and crackers. I’ll save the unsalad for tomorrow. The two hard avocados should be soft enough to cut by then.
This was not our best choir performance ever, but oh, well. My voice is still not wonderful, but not as bad as it was after day camp last summer!
No such thing as too much steam. (Just ask that kid in the blue shirt. ;-)
The station looks nothing like it did when I last trained into Chicago..
The Wobbly light on the front would drive me nuts. Needs tightening.
Dump electric traction, Steam is the ways to go. :)
I liked Tom Barnaby better than John, Joyce better than Whatsherface, and Jones best of the Sergeants.
Did you ever see John Nettles’s Police adventures on the isle of Jersey?
Bergerac .
IF not, worth digging out. Very 80s, but worth it.
I believe they had it on Netflix at one point, but it was very 80s, including the video quality.
It’s a Mars Light (the version from another company was called the Gyralite.) From the 1940’s on many railroads employed then to increase visibility. The Mars light oscillated in a figure eight pattern while the Gyralite’s oscillation was circular.
Some railroads used them only on passenger locomotives and some applied it to both freight and passenger. Nickle Plate (NKP - the parent of this locomotive) used them from 1947 through 1964 on both classes of use. Some railroads even had a red Mars light on the read of the train..
C & O (which went through my hometown) used them only on their passenger locomotives. You could look down the track and tell whether the approaching train was a passenger or freight by whether the light was wobbly. ;-)
Rotating lights have been (mostly) replaced by ditch lights now, but some passenger carriers (e.g. Chicago Metra) still use them. And of course, with the 765, it had the light when it was in service so now that it is ‘restored’ it of necessity must have it.
Too many railfans would complain otherwise. ;-)
That would be: a red Mars light on the REAR of the train..
followed by a flash flood warning. Ain't it just like the government to get things backwards. Flood, then rainbow... Sheesh
Pensive kitteh! But very pretty.
It’s 98° out at 0300, and my clothes are sorted. I need to get detergent before next Monday, I think.
And I will definitely have to get more laundry money before then. Today’s laundry will wipe out the balance on the card.
Wednesday is the day I’ve chosen to shampoo the rug. I hope I can get it done. I may have to do it twice before it’s clean enough to store. Now all I have to do is decide when and where to spend my time. I’m thinking I’ll just sit on the patio and geek. If I do it early enough, the rug may be dry by noon.
WOW!
Good morning! Nice view, Covenantor. Shannon has made a couple tries at Marcia already, with no success. It’s nice that she’s determined.
Busy week planned here, again. DP will drop Sally at camp for lifeguarding, while I take other children to swim practice or VBS. Tonight we have a swim meet far to the south, where the Other Half lives. Maybe we won’t hit Lincoln Navigator gridlock, if we get to the interstate exit by 4:30.
It is morning, isn’t it? I hope it’s a good day for you, with all you have planned going they way they are supposed to.
I’m not sure what I’ll do when I get back from doing the laundry, but it seems like a good time to work on the linen closet. After that, I’ll shred the little bit of stuff I have and then see how I feel. I may have to go to Walmart before I come home from the laundry. I’ll check my list again. The yogurt and rice pudding are low, but not critically so, so I’ll think about it.
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