Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Atlas robot does parkour

blog.bostondynamics.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 242 posts

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#71

Post by mastax »

scythmic_waves wrote: post #16
dane-pgp wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As one of the comments on the video says, that feeling is an example of the "uncanny mountain" effect.

I'm not so sure. 1. [EDIT: IGNORE THIS POINT] They've done this before. [1] 2. To get more specific, look at the robot's legs around 0:09-0:16. They don't seem to be moving normally. I don't have professional video analysis chops, but I'd put some money on this being fake. Happy be to be proven wrong, though. EDIT: It appears I remembered this story incorrectly, and posted a link without reading it. I retract my firs…

Have you seen the behind the scenes video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EezdinoG4mk

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#72

Post by mrfusion »

lifty wrote: post #43
delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

If we retain the same semi-centralised power structures for governing society, then I think it's unavoidable that we will face the scenario you mention. We need to decentralise governance and power in a massive way if we are to avoid negative effects from these incredibly powerful technologies.

> We need to decentralise governance and power in a massive way

Agreed but I’d also like to see human rights protected from the new decentralized governments. Not sure how that could work.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#73

Post by kipchak »

trenning wrote: post #29

Can we brainstorm how you would compromise one of these robots? I don't think I've seen discussion about how you would stop one in an adverse situation. Hogtie cowboy style? Taser? Paint splashed over sensors?

I would figure conventional firearms would do the job pretty well depending on the round. That being said I could well see "anti robot" rounds becoming a thing similar to "zombie" stuff a few years ago.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#74

Post by systemvoltage »

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

Bundling BD's work with loss of privacy, face recog, etc. is so far fetched. This is just such an illinformed fearful stance that is cliche with any robotic innovation - it gets a disproportionate amount of pessimism (because robots!). Motorized controls of arms and limbs is physical intelligence, a very small slice of "AI" if you want to call that. "Overlords" meme has infested most of YT comments and but surprised to see it on HN. Disproportionate attention to physical visceral things - especially if it looks like humans - is particularly prone to fear response.

Have you ever seen your cat/dog stare at a look-alike version of stuffed toy and become completely bamboozled? Humans are particularly magnetized by anything that has 2 legs and moves like itself. No one bats an eye on a sentry with a gatling gun, but how dare you put 2 legs under it - sudden dystopia.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#75

Post by soperj »

delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

So basically the same headlines as right now, but with Robot in the title?

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#76

Post by sandworm101 »

jvanderbot wrote: post #54
delgaudm wrote: post #8

I'm not a particularly pessimistic person in general, but I don't know ...this tech, while cool, feels like the precursor to a worse future in general. Maybe I've seen too much sci-fi, but these robots look like optimizing for future soldiers, law enforcement etc. Given all the other Self-Driving / Facial Recognition / Loss of Privacy / Deepfake / "AI is bad at recognizing $situation"-type posts, and as all these tec…

I'm not surprised people look at this human-like and try to attribute human-like responsibilities. It'll be a marketing trap that many fall into. But for now, the sensing, state estimation, and energy density problems preclude the use of these robots in the real world. There's far too much uncertainty in the structure of the world or the modelling of unknown areas to do parkour outside -- unless I've missed something…

>> hybrid control scheme with a human controlling a smart-ish legged vehicle

Much depends on scale. BD is working towards a robot-donkey, something that can follow soldiers over rough terrain. At scales much larger than a horse, such robots already exist and are already much more mobile than soldiers in most terrains. These robots are called tanks. Or trucks.

Once a vehicle is carrying a large enough load that it will not fit between the trees and so cannot follow soldiers into forests, legs are not very useful. Wheels and tracks are better than legs, particularly in soft/wet terrain. So large walking robots are likely never going to happen. The MechWarrior fantasy will have to live on in things not much larger than a horse, things that can fit between trees and along footpaths.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#77

Post by jvanderbot »

qiqing wrote: post #45
jvanderbot wrote: post #35

This is awesome, but until someone solves the real-time sensing and modelling problem, it'll never fly in the real world. The use case is still warehouses. Here's my logic / assumptions: How does the robot "know" (have sufficient model information to predict the response) that the board will hold it when it does a vault? It doesn't -- it is told to vault by placing one limb on top. As we've seen with self-driving car…

Wouldn't it be great, though, if humans were no longer working warehouse jobs that strain their backs and their bladders?

Yes! Your warehouse would have to be a cleanroom (someone left a can of soda? Your robot just smashed through a shelf when it tried to step on it)

In general, I'm an AI researcher and an AI skeptic. After 10 years in robotics, I'm learning that the Human Is Cheaper and where Human Is Expensive, we prefer toasters, not terminators. (just enough hard-coded / hard-wired adaptivity to get by with tons of supervision)

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#78

Post by mrfusion »

jacksonkmarley wrote: post #32

The thing that looks weird imo is when the robots are running on flat ground, something looks off about their feet. Can't tell what it is but they look like they're floating. Anyway it's pretty amazing, and interesting to see the improvements over the years in how the robots move. And clearly the two robots should fight.

Agreed! Floating is the right description. See my other comment. I’m thinking the other foot is still in contact with the ground and supporting the floating foot?

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#79

Post by kwhitefoot »

prepend wrote: post #58
hmottestad wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paint ought to do it. Chuck a bucket of paint at one of these and the sensors will be knocked out instantly.

It’s kind of hard to fling paint, but I guess just making a potato gun that spits out paint should be good. I’ll be looking for some Holi festival type gear.

Or a paintball gun.

Re: Atlas robot does parkour

#80

Post by jvanderbot »

sandworm101 wrote: post #76
jvanderbot wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised people look at this human-like and try to attribute human-like responsibilities. It'll be a marketing trap that many fall into. But for now, the sensing, state estimation, and energy density problems preclude the use of these robots in the real world. There's far too much uncertainty in the structure of the world or the modelling of unknown areas to do parkour outside -- unless I've missed something…

>> hybrid control scheme with a human controlling a smart-ish legged vehicle Much depends on scale. BD is working towards a robot-donkey, something that can follow soldiers over rough terrain. At scales much larger than a horse, such robots already exist and are already much more mobile than soldiers in most terrains. These robots are called tanks. Or trucks. Once a vehicle is carrying a large enough load that it wil…

In hindsight of all of 5 minutes, I agree with you.

But, I read somewhere that only 20% (ish) of the earth's surface is accessible by wheeled / tracked vehicles. I guess the important part is that's where the people are.

Post reply on HN