We really need to ratify and institute Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics) otherwise I'm afraid our future selves will regret it.
DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
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Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#32The stuff that Boston Dynamics is doing with DARPA funding feels like a current-generation parallel to how DARPA funded the early efforts at building the Internet. I suspect we will look back on these guys as some of the early pioneers of the yet-to-come ubiquitous robotics era.
ARPA funded the early efforts of building the internet.... the D came later
Thanks for the clarification
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know. This pretty much looks like the Terminator to me. It just needs some good software and a gun. Google's self-driving car technology could be adapted into a formidable killing machine brain.
"It just needs some good software." This is of course the hard part. But this robot was built to be a common platform for DARPA to build a project around: the DARPA Humanoid Challenge. The idea is to supply a very expensive robot to a few groups and a simulation of it to lots of groups, and have them compete on the control software. No guns this time around.
Well, a bipedal humanoid robot that can walk on any terrain and can't easily be pushed over was also the hard part, and those problems are starting to look solved.
Probably before these things are autonomous we're going to have these as human controlled drones, which is a pretty scary thought all by itself.
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#34The current geek want it, the future geek with the robotic gun in his head don't.
Considering how hard it is for bi-pedal bots to maintain balance, you could just kick it over and walk away.
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#35What's the advantage of making the robot humanoid?
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#36What's the advantage of making the robot humanoid?
Interacting with a world built for humanoids, I would guess.
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#37What is the point of having it be bipedal? Would not the dog/four legged system work out better? You could still have it manipulate items with forelegs if you wanted but keep the inherit stability
Because most of the parts of the world that are designed, are designed for bipedal things that occupy about 1.5 feet^2, and are about 6ft tall.
Think about bigdog trying to walk through a house. It would have a lot of problems, because the house wasn't designed for something that looks like that.
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#38Terminator has always been one of my favorite movies, and reality has an uncanny way of getting us closer and closer to the fantasy. We justify this new technology in the same way - "it's for our protection"! Dictators run into trouble when the armies decide they won't attack a local population because, hey, it's their families and friends we're talking about. Robots eliminate that pesky detail. Imagine how a secessi…
I think this all hinges on when or if these things can get produced/maintained for less than or close to the cost of a human soldier. Imagine if these got down to $10,000 to produce. Then it would be cheaper to arm a 1-2MM unit militia of humanoid robots than it would actual human marines.
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Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#39I'm getting tired of extremetech blogspam and sensationalism. This source video was posted yesterday by me and didn't really make it anywhere. It seems I should get a voting ring and embellish my titles a bit more. If anyone wants to read up on the DRC the two latest press releases are here: http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/07/11.aspx http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/06/27.aspx .
Thanks for the links,
I don't quite get the complaint though. If the goal was to get the most readers good information than any article that makes it to the front page can be a vehicle for contributing your links too. Lots of things change whether or not something makes it to the front page, but if the topic is interesting enough at least one of the stories will and that serves the purpose.
Re: DARPA and Boston Dynamics unveil a new humanoid robot
#40Slightly off-topic, but the video of this thing's predecessor, BigDog, is simultaneously fascinating and hilarious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2jvL...