Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Extreme Tech: Feisty Robot- Plus Reader Comments

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Extreme Tech: Feisty Robot- Plus Reader Comments

Boston Dynamics’ new Spot robot gets knocked down, gets back up again

By Ryan Whitwam on February 10, 2015 at 12:46 pm
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Google-owned Boston Dynamicsspecializes in creating robots that move in almost impossibly life-like ways. They can climb hills, carry heavy loads, and follow humans around. The company’s latest creation is called Spot, and it has made its video debut showing just how nimble and sturdy walking robots have become. So this is how the world ends — not with a bang, but with a robot that doesn’t fall over when you kick it.

Spot is a refinement of the company’s past robots. It’s quadrupedal and electrically powered, unlike that super speedy WildCat robot with its internal combustion engine. Spot’s movements are hydraulically actuated for fine control on a variety of terrains. This robot weighs in at 160 lbs and is considerably more mobile than some of Boston Dynamic’s older models, as illustrated in the video.

Spot can literally run circles around the clunkier LS3 robot seen near the end of the video, which is designed mainly for outdoor use and hauling gear — up to 400 pounds of it, actually. Spot seems to be intended mainly to show off how advanced Boston Dynamics’ walking and self-correction technology has become. It just coasts past people in an office and no one pays it any mind.

Boston Dynamics has been less forthcoming with information since the 2013 Googleacquisition. The new Spot robot is being unveiled only with a YouTube video and a few basic stats. There’s no press release or blog post that explains the finer points of building a tiny robotic horse, but at least the video is cool. You can watch the robot wander around both indoor and outdoor areas, and even withstand a few hard kicks — poor Spot.

I’m not sure what it is with Boston Dynamics engineers and kicking robots, but they seem to do it a lot. Yeah, it successfully illustrates how well these contraptions can recover from unexpected impact, but it’s really just antagonizing the robot, isn’t it? I mean, how long before they say enough is enough? The day the robots start kicking back will be a dark day for humanity.

Boston Dynamics mentions in the YouTube description that Spot has a sensor head that helps it navigate. Indeed, when you look at the “head” end of the robot, there’s a small rotating cylinder. This is probably a LIDAR system similar to the one Google’s self-driving cars use to remain aware of their surroundings. This might actually be the most important aspect of Spot if it’s gained the ability to sense its environment. Hopefully Boston Dynamics releases more details on this robot soon.

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