

Boston Dynamics' Petman robot successfully wears clothes - arasmussen
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/05/boston-dynamics-petman-robot-successfully-wears-clothes-video/

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ChuckMcM
It has been interesting to watch Dr. Raibert's ideas grow. A long time ago
there was an interesting debate going on between subsumption architecture that
Dr. Brooks was pushing and Dr. Raiberts work (both at MIT). As a robot guy
I've been fascinated by both of them, but Raibert's work was hampered by the
fact that his creations were only stable when constantly moving and Brook's
creations were always stable. The argument went that dynamic stability was so
energy inefficient it would not be a good fit for doing locomotion.

The advantage of dynamic stability is of course that your robot is constantly
in danger of falling down, that is its natural state, so trying to knock it
over doesn't really change what its doing a whole lot.

I did not think I would see dynamic stability in a humanoid shape though
(power off condition is laying horizontal :-). Watching it is pretty
unnerving. I'm impressed they have it working.

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anigbrowl
Between this and their Big Dog project hurling concrete blocks around, I feel
mildly worried...

[http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-
blocks...](http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-blocks/)

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SoftwareMaven
Don't worry, Anonymous will hack them and keep us safe.

Certainly, the power divide between the government and people (inside or
outside of its borders) continues to grow. The scary thing to me (in a
distopian future) is that robots won't hesitate to do as they are programed.
Soldiers sent in to "subdue" their own population might at least think twice.

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gamblor956
It's only a matter of time now before robot nudity is a registerable sex
offense...

Unfortunately, the announcement isn't that the robot has the dexterity to put
on the clothes itself, but rather that its sensors and other functionality
work through clothes, i.e., a hazmat suit.

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azoth_
Petman isn't doing any kind of active sensing (vision, radar/lidar, etc) in
these videos. The clothing has nothing to obstruct other than movement, but it
looks baggy enough such that it doesn't do this either.

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lowboy
As someone who works from home, I get a similar response when I'm out of my
bathrobe+pjs.

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savrajsingh
Isn't it odd that they keep claiming the robot is being created to "test
combat clothing for soldiers"?

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dhughes
Is it completely free to walk on its own or do the cables assist with balance?

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WestCoastJustin
There is a video [1] of it walking on its own. I suspect they have the cables
because it was leaning over, twisting, squatting, etc and they probably want
to assist with balance.

[1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E>

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bradleyland
They're probably fall-dampening cables with very light tension. These types of
cables are like rate limiters for falling objects. It would prevent it from
slamming down on the floor if balance was lost, but the tension is very light;
just enough to take up slack. Because they're positioned only to the sides and
the rear, their greatest effect would actually be to make balance _more_
difficult for a bipedal robot.

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epsylon
I'm pretty sure they are used to deliver power as well.

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bradleyland
The cables at the top are all for fall protection. The tether (power and
control) goes through its ankle or hip area, depending on the video. The one
video where you see multiple strands hanging down directly from the top are
connected to a block and tackle pulley system. If you watch the one shot from
behind you can see the hoist hook in the center of its shoulders up high. You
can also see the tether at the hip area in the same shot.

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jiggy2011
Great, now I'm going to have nightmares for weeks.

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rickmode
The cables definitely look like training wheels. Even a very slight bit of
tension could assist with balance. Of course that assumes the robot has some
sort of kinesthetic sense.

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bones6
I'd assume it's probably easier to iterate and test without worrying if your
ridiculously expensive robot is going to fall on it's face. Even something
small like friction with the clothes or binding of cloth in a servo/joint
could cause it to fall, I suppose.

I'm sure they wanted their proof of concept out just to be the first robot
with clothes, but just didn't want to risk damage.

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kaonashi
Pick up that can.

