Robots in Motion

There are five videos in this article, with focus on the robots designed and engineered by Boston Dynamics. The company is a world leader in the field of robotics, and the robots they design exhibit a wide range of mobility and agility.

The first video focuses on a variety of the different robots being built and tested by Boston Dynamics. It starts with ‘Little Dog’, a small robot being tested in 2009. Then it presents ‘RHex’, another small robot which uses a different form of locomotion to move around. The RHex filming is from 2012 as is the next early robot presented, ‘Sand Flea’. In 2010, field testing was underway for the robot ‘BigDog’, a quadruped robot designed for the United States military. Jump forward three years, and the strength exhibited by ‘BigDog’ has significantly increased. 

Still in 2013, a field test focusing on the speed and mobility of the ‘Wildcat’ (Cheetah) robot is shown. Movement is accomplished using a different gait from the other robots seen so far. Moving to 2015, we see an early version of the ‘Spot’ robot being field tested. The ability to balance and recover on uncertain terrain along with their multi-jointed limbs is what makes these quadruped robots fascinating.

Then the video shows 2011 lab testing of ‘Petman’, an upright bi-pedal robot whose development began in 2009. By 2013 this robot seems to have been given a more humanoid look since it was developed solely to test chemical-resistant military gear for the United States military. It is a full-size humanoid robot powered by hydraulic actuators, and able to walk, squat and do push-ups.

First revealed to the public in 2013, the robot called ‘Atlas’ shown during field testing in the 2016 images has a less humanoid look, but still retains the mobility and balance control seen in the ‘Penman’ robot. This is another robot designed and engineered with funding from the United States military. This time the oversight comes from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

This second video focuses on the ‘Atlas’ robot from Boston Dynamics. Watching as it performs for the lens, its movements while navigating through snow are eerily human-like, where a step will impact balance because of a hidden defect in the terrain.

This April 2017 TED Talk video has Marc Raibert, founder and CEO of Boston Dynamics, presenting a talk on the robots designed by Boston Dynamics. Included is footage of ‘Handle’, the newest robot design from Boston Dynamics. This biped on wheels can carry 100 pounds, quickly navigate down stairs and jump up over four feet. Of note is the mention that the latest generation of the ‘Atlas’ robot now only weighs 165 pounds, a far cry from the early model weighing close to 400 pounds.

In this April 2019 video, Marc Raibert, founder and CEO of Boston Dynamics, presents a demonstration of the latest ‘SpotMini’ robot. Reports the ‘SpotMini’ would soon be for sale commercially were quashed when in September 2019, Boston Dynamics announced the robot would only be available for commercial lease from the company, and not be offered for sale.

This final video is one made by the company Corridor Digital. They describe the video as a “comedic parody” not owned, endorsed, created by or associated with the Boston Dynamics company. 

Titled “New Robot Makes Soldiers Obsolete”, it does a nice job of presenting a ‘what if’ scenario between an armed robot and its human handlers.

Ultimately, the greatest limitation for all of the biped and quadruped robotic designs in the world is the limitation of their power source. Once that is overcome and continuous motion is possible, then their impact on the world will grow exponentially. Is Atlas the world’s most advanced humanoid robot with artificial intelligence? Possibly, but robotic technology continues to advance in leaps and bounds, so who can say what new designs might be lurking in the wings.

Reference

Boston Dynamics, an American engineering and robotics design company, is a 1992 spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Marc Raibert is the company’s founder and CEO. The company was acquired by Google X (later X, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.) in December 2013, who in June 2017 sold it to the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Dynamics

https://news.avclub.com/boston-dynamics-parody-imagines-a-robot-that-finally-st-1839440375

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