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 ...
The world needs people who can actually do something , not another fictician.
Besides the sciences are cool, even you don’t ever use it.
I studied/attended archaeological architecture at collage one winter as a fill in during the long afternoon break. Have never used it except for personal interest.
If I had had a choice, I would have gone to college and been an archeologist. I’ve never been able to satisfy the desire to learn, so I’m always studying something.
Chemistry is a good choice because he can always go into research. He would be good at that, too.
We are all very interested in archaeology, which is why we’re listening to recordings about pre-Columbian South America. I told my bilingual Sacrament class about some of it last night: the monumental architecture and the Fanged Deity and stuff. One of the students is from Peru, so he perked up a little.
It came up because we were talking about the gods of the cultures around ancient Israel. One boy was worried that learning Greek mythology could be a bad thing - he goes to the Greek charter school started by a Greek restauranteur in the area - but we cleared that up. “As long as you’re not sacrificing a bull to Zeus ...”
I can recommend the works of:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Prescott
for the study of central and South American pre Colombian history.
Old but riveting.
Currently, my choice for morning reading is “Ancient America and the Book of Mormon.” Since I just got started, I can’t tell you much about it, but I’m very interested in finding out all I can about Fernando de Alva de Ixtlilxochitl, and something called the “Popul Vuh” and also “Antiquities of Mexico,” by Lord Kingsborough. I doubt I’ll be able to find any of the works I want to read, but I will search for them.
The book I’m reading had its first printing in 1950, so the book, though the 7th Printing, is old...almost as old as me... ;o]
I’ve always been interested in the history of the Americas, and all this book has done is prove to me how little I really know. But the search goes on.
In other news, while I was sitting at the ramada, I got a text from Zeke, saying that Pat has accepted my invitation for a bed for at least Saturday night.
So now, I’m back to “what do I feed her?” I don’t know what time they will get in, but it’s about a five hour drive, depending on the weather.
She has some health problems, but I don’t know what they are, so this trip will be hard for her no matter how good it is.
I’m about ready to call it a day, but I was surfing on FB and found a recipe for Bundt Chicken. Yep. That. Vegetable and herbs are placed in the Bundt pan, the hole is covered with foil, and the chicken is placed over the hole. Then roasted. And now, of course, I’m anxious to try it!
One of our more obnoxious neighbors came to the ramada this morning and monopolized the conversation, and I had things I needed to talk to Charlie and LuDean about. I don’t mind this guy, but he is always high or drunk, and either way, he is loud and rude. I didn’t have much tolerance for him this morning, for sure.
I’m going to take a book that has a cat in it and snuggle down under the covers. Maybe I can read it without falling asleep. ;o]
Sleep Well !
:)
Hope you have a good night. I’m going to a program at church tonight.
Robot evangelism is going to be a coming craze.
The Popul Vuh is a compilation of Maya religious belief. Search on Professor Edwi Barnhart and you will find his Maya research site with a lot of interesting information.
Edwin.
It was nip and tuck there for a while but I flogged it into submission. Or at least this portion.
Had to do a complete install of Windoze 7 on the new hard drive including the bazillion gaglebytes of Windoze Updates (seems all my Win7 install DVD's are pre-SP1 so every update since it first came out was lying in wait for me..)
Then I tried to restore my files from the backup and discovered that it didn't restore Firefox or my email. And then I discovered that the last couple of backups didn't even have the files for Firefox and Thunderbird in it, had to go back to Jan 1 update to find them and then had to rebuild my profile one segment at a time because Win backup decided to ignore the folder structure and dumped everything in one big blob of files.
I just finished that task and crossed my fingers and fired it up. And was greeted by my home page and my bookmarks are intact (other than anything post Jan 1 to now).
Still need to do the same thing for Thunderbird to get my email back. Plus reinstall everything else from Adobe Acrobat (Pro) the WordPerfect. But it's now 0330 here in the East and I'm going to bed.
I'm frrazzled.
(I probably lied about going straight off to bed since I know I'll read to the end to see what I've missed.. ;-) Anyone need a substantial paper weight in the shape of a 1 terabyte hard drive?
The late Igor was very interested in the Popul Vuh, but that was in the days before home computers, and he was too lazy to go to the local library (at the time, we lived in the Bay Area) and do the research needed. Considering where we lived, he probably could have learned all he wanted to about it.
Me? I have the interwebz! ;o]
Hey! You got 333! My lucky number! Though not so lucky this time, since you got it. ;o] Ohwell.
I was with you every step of the way in your description of the travails of replacing the hard drive. My heart was in my throat! Well, not really, but I found myself holding my breath, waiting to see how it turned out, even though I knew you would triumph! LOL!
It looks like that squee has orange eyes. Wow. The light makes it hard to tell for sure.
It’s morning and I’m as tired as I was when I called it quits yesterday around noon.
Yes, it looks like orange eyes to match the orange patches in her fur. Lovely cat. The poster wrote that she’s edgy and didn’t want her picture taken.
http://mayaexploration.com/index.php
Wow. What a website! In 1980, the Relief Society taught a series on the Maya, and explained how to read the pictographs. I kept that book for a long time, but in the many moves that I made, it got misplaced. It was very interesting.
My son sent me a text last night, but I was just too close to sleep to answer it. He is depressed about the loss of his job, and I understand that. Been there. Done that. It has a tendency to make a person “mental,” as he said! How can I hug my son, and kiss the hurt and make it go away when he’s a grown man 1500 miles from here? :o[
Take it apart. The magnets in the head actuators make fun toys and you can see if you can toss the platter like a Frisbee.
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