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from the fortunately-skynet-isn't-self-aware-yet dept.
Atlas, the hulking humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics, now does backflips.
To be clear: Humanoids aren't supposed to be able to do this. It's extremely difficult to make a bipedal robot that can move effectively, much less kick off a tumbling routine. The beauty of four-legged robots is that they balance easily, both at rest and as they're moving, but bipeds like Atlas have to balance a bulky upper body on just two legs. Accordingly, you could argue that roboticists can better spend their time on non-human forms that are easier to master.
But there's a case to be made for Atlas and the other bipeds like Cassie (which walks more like a bird than a human). We live in a world built for humans, so there may be situations where you want to deploy a robot that works like a human. If you have to explore a contaminated nuclear facility, for instance, you'll want something that can climb stairs and ladders, and turn valves. So a humanoid may be the way to go.
Source: https://techxplore.com/news/2017-11-atlas-robot-backflip.html
Also: https://www.wired.com/story/atlas-robot-does-backflips-now/
takyon: Don't forget the new SpotMini as seen at The Verge, Quartz, and Popular Mechanics. Even Ethanol-fueled couldn't stop it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @12:53AM (1 child)
For everything else, use an octopus. And of course for tiny screws in space, use ants
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @06:52AM
Humanoids are great for certain things, for example climbing and walking along balance beams. It's also a more complicated design and I'm sure that we'll eventually see robots showing up that can walk on either two or 4 legs as appropriate with the ability to swap hands for feet when appropriate.
But, for most things, a quadriped or other form is going to be more useful.