Love how they applied first principles to standing up. Can’t wait to see how the robot deals with “disarm human.” Spoiler alert: dis-arm.
Why, like this of course:
An electric new era for Atlas
211–220 of 443 posts
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#212Quite scary, but can't hold a candle to this one ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3RIHnK0_NE
Using my human brain, I can't tell if this is real or not. One day the robots are going to watch this video and decide they've had enough, and that's how we all end, joke video or not. I really do hope it's a joke, but there's not enough money in the world for me to start smacking around a robot holding a live firearm.
That link is CGI.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you bet any money on this? Boston Dynamics is not run by bozos, they have a pretty consistent track record of showing the real stuff.
No, I wouldn’t. And I appreciate the Boston Dynamics track record. That said, they do have a reputation for viral video releases. Curiously, they usually show some sort of human interaction with their new robots, but maybe too early here? Particularly loved the video of the engineer shoving the robot as it negotiated an obstacle course. Would you bet money that it isn’t CGI? The fact that we are asking these question…
Yes I am sure this is not CGI.
I would bet.
Their marketing style is built around viral Youtube video showing their prototypes being impressive or simply entertaining. Including when the fails.
They got a lot of recognition and attention thanks to this, I would not blame them, I prefer this to sterilized marketing we're seeing most of the time.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#214A 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
Androids are human-compatible. An android could go any place a human could go and operate any machinery a human could operate - that widens the space of possible applications. A wheeled robot is capable of many tasks, but it can't dance with you, play piano, wear your wardrobe or sit in a plane seat.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's kinda a weird conclusion to reach. They discontinued this (old, hydraulic) humanoid robot to focus on their new (fully electric) humanoid robot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29ECwExc-_M
I'm assuming you didn't read the parent comment to mine saying "humanoid robots are dumb", so I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
I did read it. I'm trying to say they are not dumb, and no one is giving up on this form factor.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
The ultimate goal is to produce general-purpose robots. If we want robots that can do everything a human can, then legs are definitely useful. One simple example: getting in and out of a car. Another thing to consider is that a legged robot can tilt itself for balance while carrying heavy objects. To carry a similar weight with a wheeled robot you'll need a much wider wheel base. And then of course, if you want to bu…
Prediction: we'll have self-driving cars that can match our driving before we have legged robots that can match our stability, agility etc. Have you not seen Boston Dynamics tilting wheeled robots that work very well? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iV_hB08Uns
That tilting wheel robot is huge compared to a person, and it seems to me that the potential for it accidentally injuring a person while moving would be much greater than with a humanoid, if only because of its mass and its need to perform large, rapid motions to maintain its balance.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#217Funny, just after the all electric Optimus. For sure they have been working on this for a long time. I predict that they will also move toward neural nets for all the vision, control and understanding of the world (like Tesla)
"move towards neural nets ... like Tesla" You sound confused.
What do you mean? This sounds like a low-effort, hostile reply unless you provide more reasoning for your dismissal.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#218Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#219A 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 think we very much do. Robots are currently very expensive, so where do you want to send a robot that you can't use a worker? Probably somewhere at least potentially dangerous. You want to use the robot to inspect a tunnel in danger of collapse, or a factory that may be leaking a poisonous chemical out of a pipe. And in such cases you very much want something that can navigate obstacles about as well as a human. Yo…
But a humanoid isn't the optimal form factor to be able to navigate those kinds of terrain. A quadruped robot like Boston Dynamic's Spot is much more stable than a bipedal one, and is already being used for those sorts of applications.
For rougher types of terrain, hexapod robots do great (not the spider-type ones - ones with three legs either side, that fully rotate in the vertical plane), or for that matter just use a tracked tank-type design.
Re: An electric new era for Atlas
#220The success of old Atlas was partly due to the compactness and high power of hydraulic actuators. There’s a lot of actuators to pack into a humanoid robot and it takes a lot of power to do backflips. I am betting that this one is less powerful, no backflip.
In this interview, Robert Playter actually says, that the new electronic Atlas is stronger than the old hydraulic one:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/atlas-humanoid-robot-ceo-interview