
Darpa Unveils Upgraded Atlas Robot, Now Completely Unplugged - spectruman
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/atlas-drc-robot-is-75-percent-new-completely-unplugged#.VL6Nx4VBEGE.hackernews
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devindotcom
Here's DARPA's press release:

[http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2015/01/20.aspx](http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2015/01/20.aspx)

Most troubling is the new pump, which means "the teams can actually operate
this robot without the need for hearing protection."

Before, I pictured the robocalypse accompanied by the combined buzz of a
thousand BigDogs, but now apparently it's just going to be the sound of well-
oiled actuators — mingling, of course, with screams.

~~~
biot
In a few decades, the concept that someone ever needed hearing protection
around a robot will be quite the anachronism, similar to how someone used to
marvel that a computer could fit into a space smaller than a large room.

~~~
pkinsky
I was going to point out that _some_ robots will always incorporate industrial
machinery that would require hearing protection but then I realized data
centers are basically building-sized computers. Anachronisms have their place
:).

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mooneater
This article doesn't mention the larger gameplan wrt google and military
robots, which to me is the real story.

In earlier coverage we were told Google would not be a military contractor,
but:

"Since Google has committed to honoring existing robotics contracts, including
Boston Dynamics’ $10.8M deal to build and maintain Atlas robots for the DRC
(four of which are guaranteed a spot in the finals), its presence will still
be felt at the competition" \-- [http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/zero-
moment/google-rumore...](http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/zero-
moment/google-rumored-be-pulling-its-team-darpa-robotics-challenge)

Really hoping this remains true. Deepmind + Boston Dynamics + ITA is not
something I'd like to see providing military tech around the world.

~~~
wahsd
Don't worry, it will happen. Just like how we developed ABC weapons and it
took the world wars for us to realize that we are insane and have to try to
take our meds and calm the hell down; so will we have to go through a phase of
robotic warfare, which hopefully does not end up like the Terminator story
line, before we realize that we're kind of stupid and need to knock it the
hell off for a while.

~~~
tjradcliffe
It isn't clear how this ends, though. Robots are going to enable a _lot_ of
anti-social behaviours that were previously limited by personal risk during
the execution and the odds of getting caught.

People tend to worry about "robot armies" because we aren't very good at
imagining the future, and I'm sure we'll see those. We already are in terms of
drones.

But a much bigger issue as costs drop and availability increases is going to
be freelancers. This is going to be particularly problematic because robots,
like computers, are going to be too useful to limit very much in civilian
applications. Any dangerous, unpleasant, ugly job is going to have a robot for
that.

Including assassination and robbing banks. Although there will also be robot
security guards to counter such activities.

Nor do robots on the battlefield have any of the issues that limited CBN
(Chemical/Biological/Nuclear... which is the way I learned it) weapons. None
of those are enormously useful in actual combat. Chemical and biological
weapons are difficult to control and deploy, and the "Davy Crockett Nuclear
Rifle" aside, nuclear weapons are difficult to use for anything other than
killing cities, which is rarely a strategically or tactically good thing to
do. I'm not saying they're useless, merely that they aren't the be-all-end-
all.

Military robots, though, pretty much are. There is every reason to expect that
they will be used very widely, just like drones. Once upon a time drones were
surveillance only. Now it's routine to weaponize them. Soon enough it'll be
routine to send them out on autonomous interdiction missions: the economic
temptation is just too high. Why send troops to cut off an area when you can
have a 24/7 patrol of small, cheap drones that'll kill anything larger than a
rabbit that tries to cross a virtual Maginot Line?

I'm not saying we shouldn't do any of this--robots are too useful to not
develop. I am saying that the robot apocalypse, when it comes, will look a lot
weirder than our 20th century fantasies.

~~~
mc32
Once perfected I can see the going into firefighting and policing duties. For
the most part,aside from employment issues, this will result in positives
-fewer people hurt fighting fires, more people rescued from previously
inaccessible places and robots can brute force people into arrest while being
shot at -without having to shoot back or pre-emptively --again to people's
benefit

~~~
mc32
Don't be so pessimistic. I'm sure we can use these kinds of robots for our
benefit --not just sending them to war for us.

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Animats
The original Big Dog noise problem came from using an off-the-shelf fixed
speed engine/hydraulic pump combo. There was a subcontract for the LS3 to
replace that with a quieter custom-designed Diesel-powered unit. (The US Army
is all-Diesel; they don't want gasoline tankers on the battlefield.) I'm not
sure how that came out. The original Atlas was a Big Dog derivative, and used
many of the same hydraulic components.

The Schaft robot (also now owned by Google) is all-electric. That's probably
the future direction.

~~~
discardorama
> _The US Army is all-Diesel; they don 't want gasoline tankers on the
> battlefield._

The other advantage of diesel engines is that they'll run on a wide variety of
fuels: kerosene, heating oil or even vegetable oil.

~~~
contingencies
Or smashed up coconuts. Reportedly, 200 coconuts = 1 liter of fuel. Apparently
this and micro-hydro helped to win their war for independence ... see films at
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_Island#Popular_cu...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bougainville_Island#Popular_culture)

~~~
fudged71
At least we know robots will retire on the beach.

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bronz
I watched the first one live. Hopefully the Atlas robots perform better this
time around. I'm most excited to see the next iteration of Schaft, which
Google now owns.

~~~
eco
Schaft has unfortunately removed themselves from the competition[1]. It's a
shame because they dominated the trials and were definitely the most
entertaining to watch.

1\. [http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/content/drc-finals-
annou...](http://www.theroboticschallenge.org/content/drc-finals-announcement)

~~~
bronz
Wow, thank you for mentioning that. Your source says that they have declined
to compete because they are focusing on a commercial product of some kind.
That is very exciting news.

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lispm
Wonderful, new weapons for the military. As if there weren't enough already.

Please don't tell me this is for 'humanitarian' purposes.

~~~
laxatives
Thats exactly what their doing, using the words "natural disaster".

~~~
lispm
You also believe in Father Christmas, do you?

~~~
laxatives
I don't think you understand; I'm agreeing with you.

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msane
Forget Atlas, it's all about Valkyrie.

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duskwuff
But… can it shrug? ;)

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Jgrubb
Are we there yet?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley)

~~~
agumonkey
I could never find it again but I've seen a video 4-5 years ago of a battery-
less humanoid robot using different kind of actuators (many smaller hydrolyc
cables) looking like black muscle fibers. The resulting movements were also
very analog/human-like. Very eerie.

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Tepix
It's even overweight like an american! 156kg - that thing will crush you if it
falls on you while you're stuck after an earthquake.

