Boston Dynamics has produced a hybrid wheeled-legged robot called "Handle":
The company's new wheeled, upright robot is named Handle ("because it's supposed to handle objects") and looks like a cross between a Segway and the two-legged Atlas bot. Handle hasn't been officially unveiled, but was shown off by company founder Marc Raibert in a presentation to investors. Footage of the presentation was uploaded to YouTube by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson.
Raibert describes Handle as an "experiment in combining wheels with legs, with a very dynamic system that is balancing itself all the time and has a lot of knowledge of how to throw its weight around." He adds that using wheels is more efficient than legs, although there's obviously a trade-off in terms of maneuvering over uneven ground. "This is the debut presentation of what I think will be a nightmare-inducing robot," says Raibert
Boston Dynamics has yet to become profitable, and the Alphabet/Google complex looks to distance itself from "terrifying" and "nightmare-inducing" robots that may ultimately end up being sold to military customers (as long as they forget past disappointments):
While the robot's extreme sports skills were impressive, it's unlikely that Raibert's "nightmare-inducing" comment will be well-received at Alphabet. The company has been looking for a buyer for Boston Dynamics for months, reportedly after its last robot launch video went viral, and amid what Alphabet perceived to be "some negative threads about it being terrifying." The company was apparently in talks with Toyota about a takeover, but that has not as of yet materialized. Boston Dynamics is reportedly struggling to make money, especially after the US Navy said it would not be purchasing its robots.
So this is what Ethanol-fueled has been up to. Also at TechCrunch.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @02:37PM
Anyone got any good blueprints for an EMP device? (also asking for a friend... of course)
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Friday February 03 2017, @03:21PM
AFAIK this is the only practical non-nuclear EMP design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_pumped_flux_compression_generator [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @03:52PM
My friend said something about how it shouldn't use a 'high explosive' because said friend would prefer not to be on the 'enemies list' before he/she's got this EMP device working.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Friday February 03 2017, @04:27PM
Then it's up to your friend's engineering genius to invent the Pressure cooker pumped flux compression generator, I'm afraid.
Hold on, somebody's at the door...