Hasta La Gadget!

DARPA and Boston Dynamics seem bent on engineering the robot revolution, and it’s while wearing a suspicious smile that they introduce us to Atlas, their latest humanoid creation. Inorganically evolved from Petman and an intermediate prototype, Atlas will compete in DARPA’s Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials in December, where it will be challenged with “tasks similar to what might be required in a disaster response scenario.” The seven teams that made it through the Virtual Robotics Challenge stage, held in a simulated environment, will massage their code into the real 6′ 2″ robot, which sports a host of sensors and 28 “hydraulically actuated joints.” Also competing for a spot in the 2014 DRC finals are six “Track A” teams, including a couple of crews from NASA, which’ve built their own monstrous spawn. Head past the break for Atlas’ video debut, as well as an introduction to the Track A teams and their contributions to Judgement Day.

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Source: DARPA

PETMAN is a humanoid robot made by Boston Dynamics. BD also created Big Dog, the quadrupedal, brick-throwing robot that haunts our dreams.

This robot, shown here gussied up in a hazmat suit and gas mask, however, is far scarier. While I doubt he can do much right now without those cable support, just imagine PETMAN bopping up to you on a mission to keep you from entered a contaminated zone. First, he looks surprisingly life-like in this outfit and, second, he would be completely deaf to your entreaties. As they say, we’re living in the future. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.

Plus, PETMAN can dance.

via Giz

If there’s one company that has the best chance of bringing the robopocalypse to reality, it has to be Boston Dynamics. Between BigDog, AlphaDog, Cheetah and Sand Flea, they’re building a veritable army of robo-animals on behalf of DARPA. One of the more interesting projects to come out of Boston Dynamics is Petman, a humanoid robot, capable of walking and climbing stairs.

Now, the company has just released a new video of the robot taking its first steps while wearing human clothing.

In the video clip below, you’ll see Petman stomp around on a moving platform, as he shows off his finest camouflage wear.

While its moves are still overwhelmingly robotic, Petman is still an incredibly impressive, if intimidating marvel of engineering. And I certainly wouldn’t want to run into him on a bad day.

You might wonder why a robot needs to wear clothing, but this test was designed could put protective suits humans would wear in a hazardous environment to the test, and to use its built in skin sensors to detect any chemicals that leak into the suit.

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)

Filed under: Robots

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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