Google's Newest Robot Goes For A Walk In The Woods!

Scientists trying to build a better robot are encouraged by the steps, however tentative, of a humanoid named Atlas.

In a video shown recently by Atlas’s makers, it is hard to miss the human in the humanoid as the 6-foot-2 machine takes a casual, careful stroll through the woods. It walks like a crouched limbo contestant (who perhaps imbibed one too many piña coladas), shuffles through a wooded area, tethered by a power cord, and then breaks into a more confident, foot-slapping walk when it reaches flat ground — much as a person would. Scientists hope to make an untethered version soon. Atlas’s ability to be outside in the woods is one step toward developing the balance and dynamics that come naturally to humans, according to Marc Raibert, the founder of Boston Dynamics, the Google-owned research firm behind the project. For Atlas, an aluminum machine weighing over 300 pounds, the training process looks grueling: Researchers kick the robot, throw weights at it or make it walk over rock beds to observe how well it adapts to challenges. On the rock bed, Atlas can be seen tottering but rushing to complete the course, a move, Dr. Raibert said, that mimics the behavior of people and animals — when we’re on unsure footing, our instinct is to keep moving forward, and fast.


Posted By QWorldstar