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Boston Dynamics introduces a fully electric humanoid robot that “exceeds human performance”
(spectrum.ieee.org)
this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
531 points (96.7% liked)
Technology
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So glad they selected this super not creepy intro.
I think they specifically chose that to display that it has no "forward" axis, robots don't need to be 100% anthropomorphic and follow our biological limitations, this is a very significant evolution in design that will allow for better mobility
I'd go further to argue that it's very necessary for robots to have even more mobility such as wheels to take advantage of momentum and increase efficiency. There's a reason the wheel was invented, things like bicycles, wheelbarrows, etc.
The ANYmal wheeled legged robot is an example of that.
https://newatlas.com/robotics/anymal-swiss-mile-quadruped-wheeled-standing-robot/
I'd argue that the wheel was invented not because "walking" was inefficient, but because flesh is weak and gets tired.
A robot doesn't have that weakness. It thinks nothing of running five hours at high speed if necessary. It has no need of wheels if it can just Gump it cross country with cargo on his back a la Death Stranding.
Robots have battery capacity limitations, they get "tired" in a different way. Your claim is true if you invent a battery that never runs out of power.
But does walking necessarily use more energy than rolling?
Good point well made. I hadn't considered that.
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh it disgusted me
I craved the strength and certianty of steel I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine
Yes, very good point!
I wonder if someday in the future we might use reinforcement learning to iterate over different mechanical designs to explore even more exotic combinations of wheels, springs, hydraulic pistons, steel wires, legs and joints (optimizing for metrics like mobility etc). I even wonder if flexible joints made out of hard rubber could offer any advantages on bipedal motion
They might be able to ride bikes at some point.
I think the benefits to making them humanoid are underrated in this comment section.
T-001
Need to find out how to fight it, and kill it.
STEP 1 : Make friends with another one .
(If step one failed kill yourself in a painless way before getting crushed )
This is probably the best way to get up if your joints can fully rotate. If you look closely, the legs are exactly below the center of mass when they touch the ground, making it easy to push upwards without falling over.
Humans just have to make complicated contortions or jump up because our joints are inferior (there are no slip rings for blood vessels).
It looks like an improvement 😔. I mean fuck! I can't even limbo that low much less get up from 0 to upright folding my legs around like that. But my face lamp is pretty bright! Just upgraded to LEDs and now I'm like a walking sun. I think they just copied me like that. And I got two ears not just one lowly antenna. So that's not an upgrade.
Now they just need a silicone dildo, some silicone glue and a famous pornstar actress. That would sell a lot of droids this Christmas. Lots of Jewish, Jehovahs, Catholic, Christian, Protestant, Muslim men would be very interested....and women too. Specially if they come preprogrammed or programmable for special work like that.
That broke my brain for a second
I can probably do that too if I dislocate my hip bones
Samara
I want to see more of this future terminator.