Robots are getting scary

I had to make a thread just for this vid. Even though, it's still not highly skilled, you can see the feedback loops as it walks in snow to adjust. It's not that far off tech wise. A couple generations of improvements it could probably chase you down and hold you, or tear you apart even limb by limb, I suppose.

Of course, they are not being made to harm us, or round us up. Just to help us. Of course!

Looks like it might end up working in the Post Office with Face. The way they shove it around in the video though, I'm sure it will go "postal" eventually.

Quote:

The Google-owned company will undoubtedly keep producing scary prototype robots, but as its scientists keep beating them up, Boston Dynamics might want to keep a better eye on their creations. The last shot of the video shows Atlas escaping through an unlocked door, perhaps to start kicking back at the people that have been kicking it.

Why is the locomotion they work on always human-like legs? It doesn't seem to be the best idea.

Quote: odiousgambit

Why is the locomotion they work on always human-like legs? It doesn't seem to be the best idea.

I don't know, evolution favored them so far for us. They are kind of a compromise. Maybe not real good at anything, but fair at most everything. And they free up our hands.

That video was only published yesterday and has 4 million hits already.

Quote: rxwine

Maybe not real good at anything,

A rolling round cage of traction would be better,
with the robot in the center, always upright and
seeing in all directions. Making them look and
act like humans won't last, too inefficient.

Quote: odiousgambit

Why is the locomotion they work on always human-like legs? It doesn't seem to be the best idea.

Can you think of something better that works for running AND climbing?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Can you think of something better that works for running AND climbing?

Four limbs with claws seem to work pretty good for jungle cats. I think eight legs is where it will end up though. It serves spiders and scorpions pretty well.

One of the reasons for making robots human shaped is that they will be able to use tools, equipment and spaces designed for people without a lot of modification (like hand tools, cars, or stairs). This will speed acceptance and keep transition costs down.

There was just an episode of Nova about the current state of robotics. About half the show was devoted to a content to which see robot could navigate a set of eight simple obstacles, like turning a valve, and going through a door. The robots were also allowed to be controlled by their handlers. I came away thinking that we still have a very long way to go before robots replace us.

Quote: Wizard

There was just an episode of Nova about the current state of robotics. About half the show was devoted to a content to which see robot could navigate a set of eight simple obstacles, like turning a valve, and going through a door. The robots were also allowed to be controlled by their handlers. I came away thinking that we still have a very long way to go before robots replace us.

But think, as Aye alluded to they're being asked to perform in a human world. You ever watch, say, an automotive assembly line? Pin point perfect welds on a unibody, one that is held completely off the ground and spun this way and that as the welder rapid fires off each and every one. On to paint where it's blasted perfectly over and over. In the robot world, they do a pretty good job.

Luckily there aren't many that are all that... locomotive. If they want to go after you, you pretty much just have to move over there.

There's a bit of discussion about the humaniform shape of robots in Asimov's novel "The Caves of Steel." Not much, and not deep. The novel's worth reading for its own sake, though.