Presenting Atlas:TNG

[intrinsical]

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It's amazing to see how far Boston Dynamics has gone. This time, its a completely stand-alone and compact walking robot. In computer science, the level of difficulty in controlling a robot's movement is dependent on the number of degrees of freedom (dof) of movement the robot has. For example, a wrist that can rotate clockwise and counter-colockwise, tilt up and down, tilt left and right would have 3 dof. An elbow that flexes in and out has 1 dof. The shoulder-joint has another 3 dof making a total of 7 dof just for one arm. From what I see, the legs also have 7 dof each. So this Atlas has a total of 28 degree of freedom that has to be controlled.

The old algorithms that I know for robot control would require several supercomputers to deal with that many dof. So I'm really interested in finding out how Boston Dynamics is doing it with just on-board processors.

 

[Warp Core Breach]

Rise of the Cylons.

 

[Metryq]

Very impressive. When I first saw I, ROBOT (with Will Smith, 2004) I figured 2035 was optimistic for robots as sophisticated as those depicted. Now I think it is on the mark. Although, the robots in the movie also boasted a level of AI that may or may not be possible by then. (I don't know the current state of the art.)

One never knows the direction technology may take. For example, a sci-fi writer in the 1940s might have imagined wireless telephones as streamlined versions of contemporary radio devices. Breaking down the network into a cellular system solves many problems for the size of the send/receive hardware, the frequencies handled, etc. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not belittling the fractal antennas and IT infrastructure of the system.)

So perhaps AI robots like those in the movie I, ROBOT will exist by 2035-ish if the robots are networked to the actual "brains" driving them. (The movie showed the robots as independent, although a more complex computer was driving them in the "revolution.") For example, one action shown in the Boston Dynamics video made me think the unit is not ready for general use. When the robot was pushed forward so that it landed on its face, any user would have to know to stand back for what was coming next. A commercial model would have sensors for proximity of others, as well as a more sophisticated body that would allow it to gently climb back to its feet. (Will advanced models have electrolastic muscles like those seen in the movie?)

A production model would also have advances in vision that do not require the QR codes on the boxes and other items it needs to handle. Just the programming to deal with the variety of stylized door knobs (and other latches, etc.) might be daunting. Industrial robots might have special environments, but "everyday" robots sent into the world will have to be able to cope with anything... otherwise we might need RUNAWAY units (Tom Selleck, 1984) to deal with those robots that fall into the cracks in their programming.

"One small step for a robot, one giant leap for silicon-kind."

 

[intrinsical]

I believe Boston Dynamics is using QR codes simply because image recognition is not their area of focus. They're just using something that they know they can implement easily and quickly so they have the time to focus on getting the robotics right.

 

[RAMA]

I remember when these videos all had tethered robots and everyone was impressed. Now they can walk on difficult surfaces and recover from falls. It kind of gives an impression of the older generation of robots from the movie "I. Robot". The other reaction: anyone else feel bad for it when it's "teased"?

http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/23/boston-dynamics-presents-the-next-generation-atlas-robot/

 

[{ Emilia }]

@RAMA I get your excitement but did you not notice that the most recent thread in this forum is about exactly this?
I went ahead and merged the two threads.

 

[RAMA]

@RAMA I get your excitement but did you not notice that the most recent thread in this forum is about exactly this?
I went ahead and merged the two threads.

Oops. Oddly enough when I saw TNG I thought it was something related to STNG tech. Strange how a Trek fan's mind works...

RAMA

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down...

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I feel a pang of sympathy when they troll the robot by knocking packages out of its hands, shoving them away, or knocking the robot down.

I know it's irrational.

Incredibly impressive technology, though.

 

[Silvercrest]

I feel a pang of sympathy when they troll the robot by knocking packages out of its hands, shoving them away, or knocking the robot down.

Ah, so this is where it starts.

All this has happened before. All this will happen again.

 

[Santaman]

Mwah, not worried, it never said 'I'll be back!" before stepping out of the door, we're safe for now.

 

[Amaris]

I feel a pang of sympathy when they troll the robot by knocking packages out of its hands, shoving them away, or knocking the robot down.

I know it's irrational.

Incredibly impressive technology, though.

Same here. When he first knocked the box out of his grip, I said out loud "jackass!" and you don't want to hear what I said when he knocked the robot down.

I was seriously impressed when the robot got back to its feet. That was fantastic!

 

[RAMA]

Same here. When he first knocked the box out of his grip, I said out loud "jackass!" and you don't want to hear what I said when he knocked the robot down.

I was seriously impressed when the robot got back to its feet. That was fantastic!

This is genuinely new. A few years ago, these robots couldn't recover from falls. Walking on irregular turf, much less snow? Human beings do this pretty easily but it's incredibly complex.

The reaction on facebook at the robot teasing seems to be pretty unanimously anthropomorphized in the positive. Only a small percentage of people mentioned skynet. Progress..

 

[Santaman]

Oh, let me help there then. SKYNET!

 

[MANT!]

Ya know that robot has a long memory..a few more upgrades and that tech teaser will be getting his clock cleaned!