Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it amazing HN readers believe walking is a trivial task.
The key word being "apparently".
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The latest version of the LittleDog robot
51–60 of 66 posts
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#52Anyone with some robotics experience able to explain more about the floating base inverse dynamics control system and what sort of accommodations make it so much more powerful than PD?
I don't know too many specifics, but it looks like their PD example was controlling the joint position. That means that if the ground isn't where the robot expects it to be, the leg will still assume the same position and cause the robot to fall over.
The dynamic force control system is, instead of controlling the leg position, controlling the amount of force that the leg is exerting on the ground. This means that the leg may end up in a different position than the walking controller intended, but the overall effect on the main body should be similar to what was expected.
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it amazing HN readers believe walking is a trivial task.
The key word being "apparently".
I don't even think it's that apparent. It takes us 2 years to learn to walk, even with millions upon millions of years of evolution designing us perfectly to do it.
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlike the A-bomb which is lovely. Or the decidedly low-tech genocide in Sudan. Or the genocides and crimes against humanity in all the other places. Bottom line is Homo homini lupus . It's not like the risk of US soldier casualties is that much of deterrent. Bombs, A-bombs, robots, not that different, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So existence of A-bomb or low-tech genocide somehow justifies creation of new means to kill people?
The same tech can also walk into a burning building to locate trapped people without endangering the lives of firemen, crawl through rubble to find survivors after an earthquake, power household robots to assist the disabled, and more. I know the source of funding here is distasteful, but this is a dual-use technology if ever I saw one.
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unlike the A-bomb which is lovely. Or the decidedly low-tech genocide in Sudan. Or the genocides and crimes against humanity in all the other places. Bottom line is Homo homini lupus . It's not like the risk of US soldier casualties is that much of deterrent. Bombs, A-bombs, robots, not that different, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
So existence of A-bomb or low-tech genocide somehow justifies creation of new means to kill people?
This argument is moot.
As long as humanity will want to kill eachother, everything will be used as weapons. Computers are used as weapons (hell would computerized bombs and missiles be possible otherwise?) boats are used to kill people. Airplanes used to kill people. So now robots, why not its the next step. Knowing the US government they will manufature them without any bit of encryption and with a radioshack remote control someone can hijack one of these :P
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Imagine if they could efficiently vacuum your floor and mow your lawn. We're still a long way from robot world domination.
There are already robots for that. Not so fancy, but they somewhat work. I wasn't speaking about "robot world domination". That implies intelligent machines and this is not. But it looks like this one is pretty efficient in recognizing obstacles, and shapes. Once they can recognize targets, humans just need to deploy them and they will be much more efficient, without the need of human pilots. And they can come in dif…
DARPA is the reason you are interacting with other people on this website. The logo doesn't automatically mean "to be used for evil".
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
The key word being "apparently".
I don't even think it's that apparent. It takes us 2 years to learn to walk, even with millions upon millions of years of evolution designing us perfectly to do it.
Yes, but many four-legged animals can walk mere minutes after having been born, and this is a more valid comparison for the task facing a four-legged robot.
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#58Its been said before, but needs to be repeated every time: The implications of this line of R&D are horrific. Removing the risk of say, US soldier casualties, combined with media control, and with "merely" the current level of inhumanity of political leadership, would be a very ugly mix indeed. So yeah, its hard for me to get excited about the tech in this case.
Don't worry, we're much farther from that than you might think from this video. This robot can't see where it's going. It requires external cameras watching it from known fixed locations to figure out where it is. Not only that, but the cameras cannot look at a piece of terrain and figure out the 3D structure; the terrain must be mapped out in advance as a 3D mesh, down to the millimeter.
Agreed. Computer vision is a steep challenge and will limit autonomy. The derivatives of these types of devices will likely be deployed as drones in the meantime.
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#59Its been said before, but needs to be repeated every time: The implications of this line of R&D are horrific. Removing the risk of say, US soldier casualties, combined with media control, and with "merely" the current level of inhumanity of political leadership, would be a very ugly mix indeed. So yeah, its hard for me to get excited about the tech in this case.
They're only horrific if they're misused. Robots like this will also have plenty of non-military applications - especially in agriculture. Legged locomotion opens up the possibility of cultivating land which was previously inaccessible to conventional farming automation. It should also be said that there is nothing inevitable about the close association between robotics and the military - it's just an artefact of Ame…
Perhaps you will change your mind after viewing this horrific weaponized version of BigDog:
Re: The latest version of the LittleDog robot
#60I find amazing how difficult it is to successfully perform apparently trivial tasks such as walking. There's more information about the 'LittleDog' on the Boston Dynamics website: http://www.bostondynamics.com/ I was really impressed 2 years ago by their video of the 'BigDog': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww (check out t=40s)
Yes, the way it recovered from that kick is incredible. And, if you'll forgive me, here's one additional link for anyone who hadn't yet heard of Big Dog. (Unlikely, I know...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJZVZFRFJc
If you saw the original Boston Dynamics BigDog Youtube video, should check out the version that researchers here in tokyo have come up with: