The Fukushima Daiichi meltdown and other recent disasters like Deepwater Horizon highlight a very real need for robotic first responders that can operate in inhospitable environments. In response, DARPA recently issued a Robotics Challenge addressing the issue. Here’s the design that Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (CMU NREC) hopes will take home the challenge’s $2 million purse—and save lives some day. More »
It’s time for another unveil of the speaker lineup we’ve got brewing for Expand in San Francisco this March 16-17. We’ve got four more inspiring thinkers and doers who will be joining us on stage at Fort Mason Center:
They’re joining a whole host of other rad speakers including Chris Anderson (CEO, 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief, Wired), Yancey Strickler (Co-founder and Head of Community, Kickstarter), Steve Cousins (CEO, Willow Garage), Julie Uhrman (Founder and CEO, OUYA) and many more. Stay tuned here and on our social channels (Twitter, Facebook and Google+) for more agenda reveals and other Expand news.
Plus, find out who the attendees are most looking forward to seeing…
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While Boston Dynamics‘ Cheetah has already premiered, speeding along on its robot-friendly treadmill, we’ve now got a better glimpse at how the similarly DARPA-funded human-hunting obstacle-scaling Atlas fares, courtesy of its ancestor. That’s the Pet-Proto you can see in the video below, balancing and leaping across narrow terrain, conducting its own “autonomous decision-making” and keeping upright — all very important points for DARPA’s own Robotics Challenge, a competition where winners will gain access to their very own modified version of the Atlas for future disaster response tests. Watch the Pet-Proto gradually advance towards camera right after the break. And we’ll sleep with one eye open.
Continue reading DARPA’s Pet-Proto robot climbs, balances, jumps, comes to get you
DARPA’s Pet-Proto robot climbs, balances, jumps, comes to get you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Say hello to Pet-Proto. Manufactured by Boston Dynamics, which makes robot versions of everything from fleas to horses, it’s a humanoid robot that can run, jump and climb over objects—probably a damn site better than you’re able. More »
It’s the sort of ceremony that’s so magical it can only occur on even-numbered years. Inventors, educators, entertainers, college students and media folk gathered at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA tonight for the 2012 inductions to the Robot Hall of Fame, a Carnegie Mellon-sponsored event created to celebrate the best of our mechanical betters.
This year, the field included four categories, judged by both a jury of 107 writers, designs, entrepreneurs and academics and the public at large, each faction constituting half the voting total. The show kicked off, however, with the induction of 2010 winners, the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the da Vinci Surgical System, iRobot’s Roomba, the Terminator and Huey, Dewey and Louie, a trio of robots from 1971’s Silent Running.
The first ‘bot to secure its spot in the class of 2012, was the programmable humaoid Nao, from Aldebaran Robotics, which beat out the iRobot Create and Vex Robotics Design System in the Educational category. The PackBot military robot from iRobot took the Industrial and Service category, beating out the Kiva Mobile Robotic Fulfillment System and Woods Hole Oceanographic’s Jason. Boston Dynamic’s Big Dog ran over some stiff competition in the form of Willow Garage’s PR2 and NASA’s Robonaut to win the Research title. And WALL-E triumphed over doppelganger Johnny Five and the Jetsons‘ Rosie in the Entertainment category. Relive the festivities in four minutes after the break.
Continue reading Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video)
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Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Truth is stranger than fiction after all, and it seems that the latest iteration of Boston Dynamics’ LS3 (Legged Squad Support System) has taken a page out of George Lucas’ Star Wars book, where it definitely brings back memories of the AT-AT (All Terrain Armoured Transport) Walker that debuted in Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, although there is a far closer resemblance to the AT-TE (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer) Walker that appeared in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones.
The LS3 is meant to be a battlefield support robot, accompanying war fighters into battle while being sturdy enough to tote up to 180kg payloads, ensuring troops can concentrate on bringing the fight to the enemy instead of being encumbered by their equipment and supplies. Will it carry weapons, or have its own built-in defense mechanisms? We do not see any reason not to, so let us raise our cups to the possibility of a ‘digital centaur’ of the 21st century.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sand Flea and RHex from Boston Dynamics, Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN is a BigDog on two legs,
So we recently saw Boston Dynamics updated Cheetah robot which is now capable of outrunning humans, and now we have video of the latest improvements to their DARPA funded Alpha Dog robot. Alpha Dog is slower than Cheetah because it is built for different tasks. For one thing, it will carry a soldier’s load on just about any difficult terrain.
The latest updates to the robotic mule include reducing the noise it produces to just 10% of past models. It’s still not quiet at all, really, but it’s an improvement. It won’t be doing anything stealthy any time soon.
The robots are designed to work as a sort of mechanical herd, so they have improved their ability to work together. Now the herd will follow in the designated leader’s footsteps better than ever. In the words of just about every Doctor from Doctor Who… “run!”
[via Geekosystem]
When we last saw Boston Dynamics’ AlphaDog (aka LS3), it was strutting through outdoor trials with the subtlety of a nuclear missile: for all that noise, it might as well have been holding a “shoot here please” sign broadcasting American soldiers’ positions to everyone in the forest. Several months later, the company is showing both DARPA and the Marine Corps a refined version of its load-carrying robot that has clearly been through a few rounds of obedience school. While we still wouldn’t call the four-legged hauler stealthy, it’s quiet enough to avoid the role of bullet magnet and lets nearby troops chat at reasonable volumes. And yes, there’s new tricks as well. AlphaDog can speed up its travel over difficult surfaces and move at up to a 5MPH jog, all while it’s following a human squad. DARPA and the Marines recently began testing and improving the robot over a two-year period that should culminate in an Advanced Warfighting Experiment with the Marines to test viability under stress. If AlphaDog passes that bar, there’s a good chance many on-foot soldiers will have a mechanical companion — and quite a weight lifted off of their shoulders.
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Boston Dynamics shows a quieter, more thoroughbred AlphaDog to DARPA and the Marines (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Boston Dynamics keeps refining its Legged Squad Support System, the robotic quadruped descendant of the good old and creepy Big Dog. The new version of the eerie mechanical horse, which will aid US Marines squads once finished, got some cool upgrades. More »
Let’s face it, we’re doomed as a species, because one day, Boston Dynamics is gonna unleash its army of DARPA-funded droids and wipe us all out. The company’s sprinting robot, Cheetah, has now broken the land-speed record for humans, clocking speeds of 29.3 miles per hour, meaning not even the 27.79mph Usain Bolt can escape. Fortunately for us, it’s got a fatal flaw; a balance problem that means it can only remain upright with a boom keeping it steady. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be a problem for long, since field-testing on an independently upright version begins early next year. We’d wish you sweet dreams, but, you know, we’re too busy building an underground shelter.
Continue reading Boston Dynamics’ Cheetah robot will hunt you down faster than any person (video)
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Boston Dynamics’ Cheetah robot will hunt you down faster than any person (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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