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.
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Google bought robotics company Boston Dynamics a little over two years ago. Now, a potential customer for the hulking "BigDog" quadruped pack mule is balking due to noise concerns:
The US military's flirtation with robotic pack animals looks set to end: the Marine Corps has halted further testing of the BigDog contrivance from Google stablemate Boston Dynamics.
BigDog, aka the Legged Squad Support System, has been under development at a cost of $32m, with the goal of making a four-legged machine capable of carrying 400lb (181kg) of supplies. The final design did just that, but painted a target on the troops it was supporting.
"As Marines were using it, there was the challenge of seeing the potential possibility because of the limitations of the robot itself. They took it as it was: a loud robot that's going to give away their position," Kyle Olson, a spokesman for the Marine's Warfighting Lab, told Military.com.
BigDog's carrying power wasn't disputed, and the robot dealt well with clambering over rough terrain without a human controlling it during the 2014 Rim of the Pacific war games. But the power needed to do all this required a petrol engine, which was so loud that the enemy could hear soldiers approaching before they saw them.
Boston Dynamics did develop a smaller, electric-powered robotic dog called Spot. This was also tried out by the Marines at its massive Quantico base in Virginia, but Spot could only carry 40lb (18kg) of equipment and needed a human to guide it.
Two YouTube videos accompanying the article.
Related: Pentagon Scientists Show Off Robot And Prosthetics
Marines give Google's latest robot a tryout as "working dog"
Over a year after signalling its intentions to dump the robotics demonstration company Boston Dynamics, Alphabet/Google has finally found a buyer: SoftBank. SoftBank acquired ARM Holdings for around $32 billion in 2016. Google also offloaded another robotics company, Schaft:
Google's ambitions for Boston Dynamics were never really clear. Before being acquired, the robotics company was mostly funded by DARPA—the US military's research division—with the express purpose of creating militarised robots. Within a year of being picked up, though, Google announced that it would no longer pursue any DARPA contracts, presumably to focus on possible commercial uses for the bots. No commercial robots ever emerged.
SoftBank, however, has had success with commercialising robots—specifically the small humanoid robot Pepper.
Also at The Verge, The Guardian, TNW, CNN, CNBC, and TechCrunch.
Previously: Pentagon Scientists Show Off Robot And Prosthetics
Google's Noisy "BigDog" Robot Fails to Impress U.S. Marine Corps
Google's Latest Boston Dynamics Robot Takes a Stand
Boston Dynamics Produces a Wheeled Terror as Google Watches Nervously
Hyundai takes control of Boston Dynamics in $1.1B deal
Hyundai is officially purchasing a controlling stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics from SoftBank in a deal that values the company at $1.1 billion, the company announced today. The deal has been in the works for a while, according to recent a report from Bloomberg, and marks a major step into consumer robotics for Hyundai. Hyundai is taking approximately an 80 percent stake in the company while its previous owner, Softbank, will retain around 20 percent through an affiliate.
Hyundai says its investment will help its development of service and logistics robots, but that over time it hopes to build more humanoid robots for jobs like "caregiving for patients at hospitals." Other areas of interest include autonomous driving and smart factories.
EF could not be reached for comment.
Previously: Google to Sell Robotics Group Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics Produces a Wheeled Terror as Google Watches Nervously
SoftBank Acquires Boston Dynamics and Schaft From Google
Boston Dynamics Will Now Sell Any US Business its Own Spot Robot for $74,500
Boston Dynamics' Dog-Like Robot Spotted in Chernobyl
Boston Dynamics' Spot Is Helping Chernobyl Move Towards Safe Decommissioning
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @03:56AM
So hopefully Ethanol's golem with protect us from (((their))) golems!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday February 03 2017, @04:04AM
I can't wait for the anime adaptation.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday February 03 2017, @05:23AM
Unfortunately there will be no anime promotional vid.
However, as somebody who previously worked with their mechatronics division (now transferred to their wireless applications division) I can give you some insight as to the mechatronics divisions' M.O.
Firstly, these guys were influenced by automatons from Short-Circuit, [nocookie.net] Terminator 2, [nocookie.net] and those robots are fine if not inefficient for a flat warehouse scenario. But the agile (and appropriately creepy) wheelchair mutant from the Doom movie [youtu.be] was what really piqued their interest in a hybrid robot which could be fast and adaptable on flat ground. Occasionally a Millennial intern will mention Wall-E, but those get laughed right out of the room.
I couldn't tell you in advance because of non-disclosure agreements (my previous statements were cleared by legal) but I can say now that the Boston Dynamics guys are living the technological dream - they are rockstars free to invent what they choose, and while a large number of collected humanoid features are inefficient for robots for other than therapeutic purposes, the research in itself is valuable in the long-run.
I can't hold a candle to the guys who designed and built the robots, for they have engineering knowledge of amazingly precise collections of dynamic systems which would smoke my mere creations (The Gay Jewish Robots HAL Goldberg and Tyrone Silverstein), but I can say that at this time they cannot beat a skilled crew of power-assisted human warehouse workers. I honed my knowledge of that working the midnight shift for Home Depot which introduces the challenges of large warehouses with freight on multiple stories. Indoors you have a bunch of masculine bad dudes, but like the sport of Basketball that masculinity is really a rather improvised feminine dance around each other. Indoors you would have people on foot and stand-up forklifts [raymond.mx] whizzing all around motorized pallet-jacks, [directindustry.com] all working faster than human speed (road-speeds, actually) and barely fast-enough to fix your eye on. Outdoors was no different, the forklift operators were working safely (always beeping the horn when moving backwards) but with impressive speed and skill considering they were swinging around pallets of solid rock.
And, like Home Depot, the bosses at Boston Dynamics are still working on the floor helping you out, not sitting on their ass all day crunching numbers on Excel sheets. Will they replace skilled humans? Not when you have to throw 3 semis full of freight into one warehouse and in one night. But when speed isn't a factor, your robots-on-rails are more than sufficient.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @07:29AM
I can't hold a candle to the guys who designed and built the robots, for they have engineering knowledge of amazingly precise collections of dynamic systems which would smoke my mere creations (The Gay Jewish Robots HAL Goldberg and Tyrone Silverstein),
You know, I have always suspected that Ethanol_fueled was employed as a sanitation technician, rather than something actually involved with technology beyond mops. That is usually where all the anti-semite racist bastards are, anyway.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @09:21AM
Don't be a bigot.
Racists cunts can come from any demographic.
I truly believe in an equal opportunities for cuntism.
I just hope someone who works there uses the info he has given to work out who he is and posts his messages to his boss...should be fun...
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday February 03 2017, @07:06AM
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cfRsCFHIsw [youtube.com]
For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77CA81GZ3fE [youtube.com] http://megasxlr.wikia.com/wiki/R.E.C.R. [wikia.com]
compiling...
(Score: 1) by islisis on Friday February 03 2017, @09:54AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcyFQyRJAss#t=36s [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by lx on Friday February 03 2017, @06:41AM
Asking for a friend.
(Score: 1) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday February 03 2017, @08:29AM
Depends if the tires are pneumatic or solid rubber, I guess.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @08:31AM
If Boston Dynamics want to make money, they should switch to sexbots.
The US navy might not buy sexbots, but the sailors will - hell, yeah!
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday February 03 2017, @07:04PM
Sailors share bunks to save space................
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 03 2017, @07:54PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Sodomy_%26_the_Lash [wikipedia.org]
(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...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday February 03 2017, @06:40PM
Maybe we don't need better batteries and solar cells. It might be a good thing if robots DO need to recharge for a while...
What's the point of all that money you're making, if the robot which doesn't have your backdoor is the one coming too kill your grandchildren?