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Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot is now a gymnast
The latest footage from Boston Dynamics is, unsurprisingly, both impressive and terrifying. Over the past few years we've seen Atlas navigate uneven terrain and even jump around a parkour course. This is on another level, though. The bipedal robot does a handstand, rolls around and even does a few jumping twists -- all without losing its balance.
Boston Dynamics' SpotMini robots are strong enough to haul a box truck
How many SpotMini robots does it take to haul a big truck? Just 10, apparently. Boston Dynamics' new video shows 10 of its canine-inspired machines attached to a box truck like sled dogs, pulling it across the company's parking lot with a one-degree uphill slope. There was a driver behind the wheel during the demonstration, probably to prevent accidents, but the vehicle itself was in neutral.
Boston Dynamics' acquisition will help its robots see in 3D
While Boston Dynamics' robots make for fascinating -- sometimes disturbing -- internet videos, they haven't quite crossed into everyday life. That could change sooner rather than later. Boston Dynamics took a big step toward bringing its box-moving (and running, jumping, dishwashing) robots into the real world with its acquisition of Kinema Systems.
Boston Dynamics' new Handle robot heads to the warehouse
When we first met Handle the wheeled robot was hopping and jumping to show off its agility, but a new demo video from Boston Dynamics is much more practical. In this one, larger Handle units work autonomously to move boxes around inside a a warehouse environment. According to the company, the boxes weigh about 11 pounds each, but the robots can handle up to 33 pounds. Whether or not they're truly suited to this work is hard to tell, even with computer vision and all the slick counterbalancing shown, operating in a real-world environment with potential obstacles could be more complicated. Still, just like the first video, the quick sure movement is a reminder that the robot apocalypse is rapidly approaching.
Now Google's robotics lab focuses on machine learning
Google didn't completely scrap its robotic dreams after it sold off Boston Dynamics and shuttered the other robotic start-ups it acquired over the past decade. Now, the tech giant has given us a glimpse of how the program has changed in a blog post and a New York Times report. With the Boston Dynamics team at its disposal, Google's robotics program focused on machines designed to move and look like us -- humanoid robots like BD's Atlas. The new lab called "Robotics at Google," however, focuses more on software: more precisely, in using machine learning to develop robots useful in the real world.
Daily Roundup: Google's robotic dog, one-way trips to Mars and more!
In today's Daily Roundup, we marvel over the impressive stabilization abilities of the latest robot from Google-owned Boston Dynamics, get all the details on why people want to go on a one-way trip to Mars and review BlackBerry's latest phone, straight out of 2011. All that and more past the break.
Google lends its robot expertise to help boost Foxconn's assembly lines
As the world's biggest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn has often been there to help Google. It provides the nuts and bolts for Glass, after all. However, a new report suggests Google's continued investment in robotics has put it in a position to give something back, using its own technology to better automate Foxconn's assembly robots. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google's Andy Rubin, the man who once led Android and now directs Mountain View's robotics efforts, recently met with Foxconn chairman Terry Gou to help "speed up robot deployment" at Hon Hai factories, with a view to integrating one of Google's own engineering companies later down the line. Google, of course, acquired BigDog-maker Boston Dynamics late last year, snatching up an additional seven technology companies to help it realize its robotic dreams. As it stands, Google and Foxconn's partnership will initially focus on improving the efficiency of the Taiwanese company's robot workforce, as it looks to mitigate against rising labor costs and improve production yields. Google is also tipped to turn its robots loose on Amazon, with Jeff Bezos' retail business reportedly fixed firmly in its crosshairs.
GE's bringing good things, and massive robots, to life
Welcome to Time Machines, where we offer up a selection of mechanical oddities, milestone gadgets and unique inventions to test out your tech-history skills. America was in the middle of a post-war economic boom during the '50s and industries were in a rush to build the future, often with outlandish results. RCA-Whirlpool was busy whipping up the "miracle kitchen," chock-full of mod-cons to make the Jetsons jealous, and Simplicity Mfg. Co.'s air-conditioned, bubble-domed lawnmowers arrived to ease the painful process of landscaping. General Electric (GE), a longtime hotbed of innovation and research, had various projects underway, including engineer Ralph Mosher's Cybernetic Anthropomorphic Machine Systems (CAMS). Mosher was building man-amplifying tools that would allow users to control robotic appendages with natural human movement. Not to be left out, the US Army was plotting the future of rough- and remote-terrain vehicles, and it had its eye on GE and Mosher's work.
Daily Roundup: 2013 Mac Pro review, Jack Dorsey joins Disney, Google powered robots and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Weekly Roundup: Instagram Direct, Jawbone Up24 review, Samsung's EMC lab and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Talkcast, 7 pm PT/10 pm ET: Scary walking robots edition
New dial-in experience! Set up Fuze Meeting before the show if you want to join in live. Another Sunday, another TUAW talkcast! As you may know, Apple from time to time buys smaller companies like Anobit, Embark, HopStop, PrimeSense and -- just this month -- Twitter analytics shop Topsy. All perfectly non-scary cute little technology companies. Meanwhile, Google also buys smaller companies... like DARPA contractor-slash-nightmare fuel bulk provider Boston Dynamics, maker of nimble and speedy robots that could deliver a package or take out your Aunt Gertrude with equal aplomb. (If you are wondering what we could possibly mean by nightmare fuel, check it out.) As The Next Web mused, there seems to be some air gap between the "moonshot" programs and acquisitions pursued by Google versus the more strategic and product-centric purchasing approach at Apple. If there were an Apple moonshot, what might it look like -- and which innovations would be part of the program? We'll discuss this and all the week's stories, right here on ye olde Talkcast live tonight. Reminder on new-style talkcasting: With some help from the fine folks at Fuze, we're using a new system to record the show. This should let everyone listen in live -- and, if you want, raise your hand as you would in the Talkshoe room to get unmuted and chime in. You can join the call in progress (meeting # is 20099010) at 10 pm ET from any computer via this link; if you download the Mac or Windows Fuze clients ahead of time, you'll get better audio and a slicker experience, but browser-only will work fine. Just click the phone icon to join the audio once you're in. Using an iPhone or iPad? Grab the native clients from the App Store and get busy. (Even Android users can join the party.) Still feel like using the conventional phone dial-in? Just call 775-996-3562 and enter the meeting number 20099010, then press #. While the Fuze web and native clients have a chat channel, we'd like to reserve that for host participants, requests to talk and other real-time alerts... so the full-on chat for the show will appear in this very post at 10 pm tonight. You'll need Twitter, Facebook or Chatroll credentials to participate in the chat. We'll remind everyone to check back in at that time.
Engadget Expand speakers, Round Five: Robots, bionics, da Vinci surgery and more!
It's time for another unveil of the speaker lineup we've got brewing for Expand in San Francisco this March 16-17. We've got four more inspiring thinkers and doers who will be joining us on stage at Fort Mason Center: Marc Raibert: President & Chief Robot Lover, Boston Dynamics Catherine Mohr: Sr. Director of Research, Intuitive Surgical MG Siegler: General Partner, CrunchFund Russ Angold: Co-Founder and CTO, Ekso Bionics™ They're joining a whole host of other rad speakers including Chris Anderson (CEO, 3D Robotics and former editor-in-chief, Wired), Yancey Strickler (Co-founder and Head of Community, Kickstarter), Steve Cousins (CEO, Willow Garage), Julie Uhrman (Founder and CEO, OUYA) and many more. Stay tuned here and on our social channels (Twitter, Facebook and Google+) for more agenda reveals and other Expand news. Plus, find out who the attendees are most looking forward to seeing...
Robot Hall of Fame inducts Big Dog, PackBot, Nao and WALL-E (video)
It's the sort of ceremony that's so magical it can only occur on even-numbered years. Inventors, educators, entertainers, college students and media folk gathered at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA tonight for the 2012 inductions to the Robot Hall of Fame, a Carnegie Mellon-sponsored event created to celebrate the best of our mechanical betters. This year, the field included four categories, judged by both a jury of 107 writers, designs, entrepreneurs and academics and the public at large, each faction constituting half the voting total. The show kicked off, however, with the induction of 2010 winners, the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, the da Vinci Surgical System, iRobot's Roomba, the Terminator and Huey, Dewey and Louie, a trio of robots from 1971's Silent Running. The first 'bot to secure its spot in the class of 2012, was the programmable humaoid Nao, from Aldebaran Robotics, which beat out the iRobot Create and Vex Robotics Design System in the Educational category. The PackBot military robot from iRobot took the Industrial and Service category, beating out the Kiva Mobile Robotic Fulfillment System and Woods Hole Oceanographic's Jason. Boston Dynamic's Big Dog ran over some stiff competition in the form of Willow Garage's PR2 and NASA's Robonaut to win the Research title. And WALL-E triumphed over doppelganger Johnny Five and the Jetsons' Rosie in the Entertainment category. Relive the festivities in four minutes after the break.
Robot Hall of Fame voting begins for class of 2012, Johnny 5 learns where BigDogs sit
It's that time again: time for Carnegie Mellon to roll out the red carpet and welcome the crème de la crème of the robotics world into its halls. Since 2003 the school has been selecting the best of the best and inducting them into the Robot Hall of Fame. Past honorees have included everything from LEGO Mindstorms to the Terminator. This year's list of nominees is no less impressive, with celebrity bots Johnny 5 and WALL-E pitted against each other in the entertainment category, while NASA's Robonaut takes on the PR2 and BigDog under the banner of research bots. There will also be two other inductees awarded a spot in the hall in the consumer and education category and the industrial and service field. Best of all, for the first time ever, Carnegie Mellon is letting the public vote on the inductees. And, while PETMAN was snubbed yet again, he's not letting that get him down -- the Boston Dymanic's biped just keeps on struttin'. Hit up the source link to cast your vote before the September 30th deadline and check back on October 23rd to see who's granted a podium speech.
Boston Dynamics Cheetah and Atlas robots get DARPA funding, getting ready to find you
Okay, so it may not look quite as impressive as some other mechanical cheetahs we've seen in the past, but this new one from Boston Dynamics certainly has a lot of potential. That robot, plus a new humanoid called Atlas, have won DARPA contracts and so will be put into at least limited production, much like the company's earlier BigDog. Cheetah is said to run "faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners," while Atlas can "move through difficult terrain using human-like behavior," meaning neither running nor hiding will work. That leaves only fighting, so get ready to buck up. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Boston Dynamics PETMAN predicts the future of man as pet (video)
At this stage of its development, PETMAN is here to assist mankind. However, it's clearly fated to be weaponized as an AT-ST walker in support of Imperial ground forces. For the time being anyway, this biped humanoid is being built by Boston Dynamics to test military suits used to protect soldiers in chemical warfare. As an evolutionary advance from its four-legged BigDog platform, PETMAN does the ol' heel-toe at a healthy 3.2 MPH (5.14 KPH) and packs enough balancing intelligence to remain upright even when given a shove from the side. Check out the action after the break. [Via Make]
Video: Precision Urban Hopper leaps over fences, makes enemies cringe
It's only been a few months since we heard from the whiz kids over at Boston Dynamics, and honestly, we've been waiting on pins and needles to see what miracle would emerge from its labs next. Said outfit has just been awarded a contract by Sandia to build the next generation of the Precision Urban Hopper, which will be a four-wheeled jumping robot that can navigate autonomously. When it rolls into battle, it'll also be equipped with a single jumping leg, giving it the ability to hop over fences, giant humans, Gort or anything else that's 25 feet tall. Best of all, testing and delivery is scheduled for late 2010, so if you were planning on getting on our bad side, you should probably have a look at the video past the break. Chances are you'll be second guessing that urge.[Via TG Daily]%Gallery-72917%
Boston Dynamics-designed RiSE V3 robot climbs poles, haunts dreams
The folks at Boston Dynamics have already made quite a name for themselves in the world of creepy robotics, but it looks like they're not ones to keep all their know-how to themselves, and they've now lent the University of Pennsylvania's Kod*lab a hand with this new RiSE V3 pole-climbing robot. That, as you've no doubt surmised, is a followup to RiSE V1 and V2, which were developed without the help of Boston Dynamics and were more suited to climbing flat surfaces than poles. In addition to a vastly different leg mechanism, this latest model also makes use of some brushless DC motors that increase the power density to let it climb poles at rates up to 22cm per second, which the researchers say make it well-suited for a wide range of tasks. As you can see for yourself in the video after the break, the bot mostly seems to work remarkably well, although it's obviously not quite ready to tackle critical jobs all by itself just yet.[Via Hacked Gadgets]
Robot that can jump twenty-five feet in the air coming to the US military
Boston Dynamics -- which previously made a robot called the BigDog -- has been enlisted by Sandia National Laboratories (a US government-funded lab) and DARPA to make a new, hopping robot. Called the Precision Urban Hopper, the robot's goal will be to be capable of jumping over large obstacles in city combat situations. It will boast one extremely tough leg to assist it, in addition to its four wheels. The Hopper is supposedly going to be able to jump 25 feet in the air once completed. So far, only a very small prototype (pictured above) is finished, but Boston Dynamics is due to present its next model sometime during 2010.
Video: BigDog turned into BigBull (with BigHorns)
BigDog is probably our favorite DARPA-sponsored quadrupedal robot, capable of prancing across the terrain for 24 hours straight while carrying 400 pounds of equipment on its back. Don't let that light-footed trot fool you, though -- this thing's a killer. Need proof? Check out this video courtesy of Boston Dynamics, who affixed a pair of rather pronounced bull horns onto the thing's front and sent it charging at what looks like an unfortunate audio engineer. Thanks to a flourish of red he escaped unscathed. Olé![Via Gizmodo]