Record-setting RunBot gains climbing ability
Having already bested other bots in feats of robot athletics, the speedy RunBot has now apparently decided to take its game to another level, with it recently seen showing off some of tis newly-developed climbing abilities. While it's apparently not quite ready to joining its rock-climbing counterparts on their next expedition, the RunBot can now automatically adjust its gait to different terrain, giving it the ability to walk uphill or downhill (albeit after enduring a few falls to get its bearings). No word on what it'll attempt next, though its options would still seem to be somewhat limited, what with it not having an upper body and all.
[Photo courtesy of Popular Mechanics]
[Photo courtesy of Popular Mechanics]
Filed under: Robots
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Comacozi @ Jul 13th 2007 8:32PM
yeah but can he play doom....?
EDomain @ Jul 13th 2007 9:04PM
I'll tell you what this thing can do... it don't need no damn upper body. All it needs is a video camera, a howitzer and a command routine programmed in KILL BASIC that goes like this:
10 RUN THROUGH CITY
20 SEE BIPED
30 SHOOT BIPED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE UNTIL DEAD
40 GOTO 10
V.I. @ Jul 13th 2007 10:01PM
That would mean killing others like him and possibly committing suicide right?
andy.markham.admin @ Jul 13th 2007 9:57PM
After watching the video, I have one question. Will the person who is holding the camera and trying to keep up with the robot, just simply attach it to the center pivot that the robots lateral stabilizer is clearly attached to? It's PAINFUL to watch a human keep up and SURPRISING that someone smart enough to program that robot can't figure out an easy way to keep the camera centered on it! :)
Darwin @ Jul 13th 2007 11:07PM
A new low for Engadget grammar when they skip the whole its-it's thing altogether and jump straight for the 'tis'.
Zzephyr @ Jul 14th 2007 1:06AM
Is it my imagination, or is that robot doing the John Travolta pose from Saturday Night Fever ?
AMK @ Jul 14th 2007 2:46PM
Can't believe no one said it yet, but...
I, for one, welcome our new, uphill- and downhill-walking, robotic overlords.
jordan @ Jul 15th 2007 11:07AM
i for one welcome our running robot overlords!