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An electric new era for Atlas

bostondynamics.com

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Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#141

Post by FpUser »

neom wrote: post #16
blackhawkC17 wrote: post #3

Figure, a new startup, is working on a similar humanoid robot. They just raised $675 million from Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft [1]. Not sure about their chances of succeeding. On the other hand, as a non-American, I admire that the USA is seemingly the only place where people get funding for wonky ideas that sometimes become very successful. 1- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/robot-startup-figure-valued-...

imho, Nobody does capitalism better than the Americans the South Koreans, and the Japanese(I guess because of the lack of natural resource in their geographies for KR/JP?). I've been privileged enough to build in those countries for an extended period of time, and work with builders in many other countries. I strongly believe nobody bruit forces ideas into existence better than them, they make the resources happen in…

I live in Canada and have found many Canadians lacking drive, curiosity and will. Also far from being straight in business to the point they feel like politicians. In average dealing with USians was much more to my liking (I am originally from the USSR). There are of course exceptions on either side.

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#142

Post by seydor »

atonse wrote: post #49
jack_riminton wrote: post #34

A hill I'm willing to die on: bipedal robots are an evolutionary path that machines don't need to go down, we have lovely bearings and wheels that work perfectly with electric motors. Yes obviously there are limitations i.e. stairs and uneven terrain but there are wheeled/tracked solutions for those too Most of these robots will be used in factories that have very nice flat concrete floors

I strongly disagree. One of my pet peeves is the idea of asking the world to accommodate a situation rather than build solutions that adapt to the world. Big example: the best we have for mobility nowadays is a wheelchair of some sort. That requires building special ramps and elevators everywhere. If we had a four legged chair that could climb stairs, etc, like what BD is doing, it could transport people ANYWHERE. yo…

> it could transport people ANYWHERE

Not really, not fast nor convenient. Any machine will always add extra volume and weight in the most inconvenient ways. There should really be no limitation on the designs, just optimization under the constraints at hand

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#143

Post by yuck39 »

colingoodman wrote: post #116
simplicio wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that their business? They've been around for 30+ years and I don't think they've ever successfully commercialized a product. So far as I can tell, they just hop from DARPA grant to DARPA grant and make cool videos of the results. I don't have any particular problem with that, but its a little weird? I figured they were a more traditional industrial robotics company that just did the humanoid robots as a side line…

They've sold some of their robots (particularly the dog) to PDs and manufacturing companies. Not sure if they've ever been profitable, though.

Personal data point, I see their dogs at defense-adjacent trade shows all the time.

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#144

Post by Zigurd »

jack_riminton wrote: post #34

A hill I'm willing to die on: bipedal robots are an evolutionary path that machines don't need to go down, we have lovely bearings and wheels that work perfectly with electric motors. Yes obviously there are limitations i.e. stairs and uneven terrain but there are wheeled/tracked solutions for those too Most of these robots will be used in factories that have very nice flat concrete floors

Boston Dynamics makes all kinds of robots. None of them are consumer products, so I don't think the very good arguments, like Angela Collier's, against having one in the home will be an impediment to developing very capable humanoid robots.

Seeing how this one moves, it is human-ish, being bipedal, but it isn't mimicking human movement range.

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#146

Post by ortusdux »

josemanuel wrote: post #64
prime09 wrote: post #25

They found the bottom of the uncanny valley and started digging.

Really scary feelings watching the clip. I think we need to make robots either neutral, or somewhat cute. Otherwise society will distrust these entities. This is the opinion of someone strongly rooting for the success of AI/ML and its symbiotic integration with actuators, either on an isolated basis or as a large hive mind.

You say distrust like it is a bad thing.

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#147

Post by huytersd »

WilTimSon wrote: post #29
Klaster_1 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, the ways All New Atlas can move in are really something else. Really channels that Star Wars battle droid vibes.

I found it creepy at first, then I saw a comment saying it looks like the lamp from the Pixar intro and now I can’t take it seriously. Beautiful movement, though. I hope one day they’ll be simple and powerful enough to replace people in high-risk jobs, where you could even just control one remotely and perform tasks that way.

Years of sci-fi made the “wait till the light on its head turns red” comment resonate more for me.

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#148

Post by Tarq0n »

neom wrote: post #16
blackhawkC17 wrote: post #3

Figure, a new startup, is working on a similar humanoid robot. They just raised $675 million from Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, and Microsoft [1]. Not sure about their chances of succeeding. On the other hand, as a non-American, I admire that the USA is seemingly the only place where people get funding for wonky ideas that sometimes become very successful. 1- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/robot-startup-figure-valued-...

imho, Nobody does capitalism better than the Americans the South Koreans, and the Japanese(I guess because of the lack of natural resource in their geographies for KR/JP?). I've been privileged enough to build in those countries for an extended period of time, and work with builders in many other countries. I strongly believe nobody bruit forces ideas into existence better than them, they make the resources happen in…

South Korean society and government are deeply co-opted by an oligopoly of wealthy families. While that leads to a great environment for safe investment, I'll gladly give it up for a more egalitarian society.

You doubtlessly know more about life in South Korea than I do, but i found this video [0] and its sequel [1] very enlightening.

0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Im4YAMWK74&t=1050s 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woB0eecbf6A&t=589s

Re: An electric new era for Atlas

#150

Post by huytersd »

dcuthbertson wrote: post #44
dcchambers wrote: post #37

Lmao of course they had to make him get up off the ground in the creepiest way possible.

Oh the horrors! Please use "it", not "him"! These machines are creepy enough w/o being anthropomorphized more than they already are! 8-)

I don’t find him creepy at all. The movements are smooth and pleasing.
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