It's not a robot, it's a seventy foot mech!
It has a humanoid form and a human operator is in the cage that is the "head". The operator gets haptic feedback and uses that to juggle 3 Volkswagens.
Sometimes we see a project that's just as frightening as it is awesome. The Bug Juggler is a prime example of this phenomenon. A seven-story diesel-powered humanoid robot is one thing, but this one will pick up two VW Beetles, put one in its pocket, pick up a third, and juggle them. Yes, juggle them.
The Bug Juggler will be driven by a brave soul sitting in the head-cage and controlling him through haptic feedback connected to high-speed servo valves. A diesel engine will generate hydraulic pressure, and the mobility required for juggling the cars will come from hydraulic accumulators.
[Linked article includes a 1.6MB animated GIF.]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by The Archon V2.0 on Monday July 07 2014, @10:21PM
I was expecting basic proof-of-concept, or at least some stuff explaining the design of a hydraulic system that is both strong and fast enough to catch a VW that's been falling for fiveish stories, without turning both the car and itself into so much shrapnel.
I got something out of *Transmorphers*.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 07 2014, @11:00PM
> I got something out of *Transmorphers*.
Stupid rendered video. If you want to watch a home-made animation, try something cool like this stop-motion transformers battle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LHWPvwD8Xk [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @12:27AM
Stupid rendered video
Not a video, clueless AC. A video would have been e.g. .swf or .mpg.
What part of animated GIF are people having trouble understanding?
What kind of "techie" does not recognize that that is screaming THIS IS A VIRTUAL MODEL.
Early in the comments there, it is mentioned that it will require a quantum leap in technology to scale up this concept to that size and especially to that speed.
Yeah, this would have been more appropriate for April 1.
The editor took the hook more deeply than I thought he would and he reprinted gobs of the original article.
Here's the original submission. [soylentnews.org]
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @12:47AM
What part of the YouTube video embedded in TFA were you having trouble understanding?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @12:58AM
2 things: First, an animated gif *is* a video. It's a sequence of timed frames. Second, there's an embedded Flash video down below the .gif, so don't get your panties in a bunch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @01:14AM
> Not a video, clueless AC.
Recently you have begun to distinguish yourself with an aptitude for aggressive stupidity.
You seem to have confused the codec with the content. Motion pictures are video regardless of the medium, otherwise you'd have a hard time explaining why a video tape does not contain and flv or an mpg or anything else remotely similar.
> Here's the original submission.
I read the original submission, saw it sitting in the queue for days. I figured they were going to let it expire out.
> The editor took the hook more deeply than I thought he would
You should have known better than to submit an utterly shite story.
(Score: 1) by My Silly Name on Tuesday July 08 2014, @01:22AM
If they're going to juggle cars in the air with metal "hands" (and according to the video, finally drop them on the ground), there are plenty of really crappy American cars they could choose.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Nerdfest on Tuesday July 08 2014, @01:58AM
Probably too heavy, and with too little structural integrity. I think the Beetle is a good choice.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday July 08 2014, @04:52AM
Yeah, I was expecting at least a starter kit. :( But they do have a track record building mechanical monsters, so....
The video was fuckin' awesome regardless.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday July 07 2014, @10:28PM
This will be news when they actually build it.
Or have they already? The summary and the article are both very unclear about that.
If it's real it would be great at Burning Man.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 1) by kwerle on Monday July 07 2014, @10:30PM
No, it's a basic design with a pretty animated gif.
The summary says "uses", which is totally misleading.
Not news. Crapvertisement.
I don't think any of today's stories have been news.
(Score: 1) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday July 07 2014, @11:46PM
Thought so. Thanks for clarifying.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 08 2014, @01:33AM
Its an animated gif by people who don't understand mass and inertia.
Just swinging an arm that big into position to catch a car, let alone actually catching the car, is going to impart significant movement to the entire structure, and require far more power than they seem to suggest.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by wonkey_monkey on Monday July 07 2014, @10:34PM
The summary doesn't exactly go out of its way to make it clear that this thing does not actually exist and is just an idea that may never amount to anything.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Insightful) by EvilJim on Monday July 07 2014, @11:59PM
It's perfect for Kickstarter then.
(Score: 1) by zizban on Tuesday July 08 2014, @01:25AM
I probably should have put that in the summary. Mea culpa. Still a cool idea, though.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by gringer on Tuesday July 08 2014, @12:11AM
I always remember the prologue to a computer game (OMF2097) when I think of things like this. It's a little story where they seemed to have got the idea of haptic feedback right -- people are divorced from their robot, fit their brain around the control mechanisms of the machine (not the other way round), and communicate remotely. There's a plot element involving someone actually being inside a robot (sort of), but that's treated as a really bad idea:
------
Ask me about Sequencing DNA in front of Linus Torvalds [youtube.com]
(Score: 1) by Freeman on Tuesday July 08 2014, @07:00PM
One caveat is that they were giant metal robots for mining in space. Though, while most kids were playing mortal combat. I was playing OMF: 2097. An extremely awesome game. It had a fairly good plot for the genre and wasn't exactly the standard fare. Too bad OMF Battleground hardly made it off the ground. They should put both of them on GOG.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by axsdenied on Tuesday July 08 2014, @05:36AM
So, somebody makes an animation of a car juggling robot and say they are making it and the news websites pick up and spread a story like it is real. Another editorial fail.
The technological challenges as huge and it is likely never to be built. A proof of concept would be nice. I don't even think that servos and motors of that size/strength and speed exist.
By the way, I am building a Death Star. Here is a video of it... links to a scene from Star Wars.
(Score: 2) by EvilJim on Wednesday July 09 2014, @12:52AM
Put your death star up on kickstarter, I bet you'd get buttloads of money thrown at you.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:28AM
Doing the drives is the easy part. Yes, such large and fast servomotors exist, and since this thing is not really a robot and just a dumb mech, you could program the whole thing on an S7 with Simotion drives and a WinCC interface.
The hard part is structural...the physics involved require modeling of a sort usually reserved for space launch vehicles. Not being a Structural PE, just a lowly BSEE, I can only wait for my skepticism to be dispelled by an unlikely reality.