Marine Corps Shelves Futuristic Robo-Mule Due to Noise Concerns

Post by grogenaut » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 2:57 PM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #102

grogenaut wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thought about this for a bit. I'm betting it's used. The deal with brakes is the ratio of the friction applicable by the brake and the lever distance of the compared to the lever arm it's stopping. I'm watching a movie so I'm not going to do the math right now but I think the size of disc rotor you could get on say a mule's knee joint versus the lever arm length of say a lower leg might cause problems either with the…

Many robotics applications use ballscrew linear actuators. These contain a cage of ball bearings in a spiral around a ball screw, and they move a given distance for each revolution. You can apply a braking force to the ball screw, which will have a large mechanical advantage over trying to brake against the joint itself.

Post by rtkwe » Thu, Dec 31, 2015, 4:06 PM UTC

marktangotango wrote: post #108

rtkwe wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of the ability of the Boston Robotics robots is in their software thought which is much easier to lockdown via encryption. The rest is the hydraulic mechanism which is not easy but is the best known part of what the BR robots do.

Concealing algorithms and executable code is actually very difficult, consider that to run, a program must first be decrypted. Also consider the decades long war between crackers and proprietary software creators. Obfuscating algorithms has been the subject of quite a lot of academic research.

Post by JabavuAdams » Fri, Jan 01, 2016, 6:21 AM UTC

rtkwe wrote: post #113

marktangotango wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Concealing algorithms and executable code is actually very difficult, consider that to run, a program must first be decrypted. Also consider the decades long war between crackers and proprietary software creators. Obfuscating algorithms has been the subject of quite a lot of academic research.

Store the decryption key in a removable module or the wireless controller? Then anyone who captures one is stuck with a ball of encrypted code that can't execute. Dealing with securing software and keys against capture is not new for the military. Also destroying the hdd/ssd is easier than destroying the whole machine. You could even have a secure wipe option if the machine is still able to run it's computer but is d…

Post by pj_mukh » Fri, Jan 01, 2016, 11:53 PM UTC

jarmitage wrote: post #54

pj_mukh wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boston Dynamics' primary innovation is in the software/control design. The reason their robots are noisy is because they really haven't innovated a whole lot in the basic actuator design. That's not to say their mechanical design was easy, not by a long shot. It's super impressive stuff! Any new inventions that would make their mechanical design steer away from loud hydraulics would no doubt be amazing. However, with…

Thanks for your reply. Is there much publicly available information about their software/control design innovations? Hmm, maybe one might expect they would be hiring more mechatronics engineers to do just that? Or maybe there's still not much point for them because as you mentioned their focus is slightly different currently.