
Disney seeks new patent for soft robots playing characters - spking
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-bz-disney-soft-robots-20170407-story.html
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Nomentatus
So much patent fraud by huge companies - patenting the unpatentable for the
false front; none of it prosecuted, because big companies are teflon.

This is computer/software-plus-X, the very thing the unanimous Supreme Court
Alice decision ruled invalid.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Corp._v._CLS_Bank_Intern...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Corp._v._CLS_Bank_International)

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eridius
You're kidding, right? This patent has to do with the design of a robot.
That's very much hardware.

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DonHopkins
But the hardware is wrapped in a plush fabric costume, so technically it's a
soft wear patent.

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rl3
Hopefully the debugging functionality has low toxicity.

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beambot
Prior art already exists in the form of inflatable robots from Otherlab /
Pneubotics:

[http://www.hizook.com/blog/2014/11/12/big-hero-6-soft-
inflat...](http://www.hizook.com/blog/2014/11/12/big-hero-6-soft-inflatable-
robot-meets-big-screen)

I haven't read the patent or specific claims; I'm just pointing out that
inflatable robots and inflatable characters already exist that perform some of
the functions mentioned in this article.

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cardamomo
And here is another soft robot performs no function at all except to sweat
when it senses contact with its skin. Imagine a theme park full of these
guys...
[http://paulagaetanoadi.com/works/alexitimia/](http://paulagaetanoadi.com/works/alexitimia/)

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lutusp
* sigh * another nightmare site that pops a nearly page-covering advertising overlay that, when dismissed, ignores the fact that the visitor has expressed a choice and continues to auto-play multiple video and audio streams.

New rule -- sites that pop overlays while auto-playing multiple video and
audio streams, lose the right to complain about ad blockers.

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AlecSchueler
I've actually started adding sites like this directly to my hosts files,
no/few questions asked, just so I don't accidentally go there in the future.

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lutusp
You could submit such finds to one of the aggregators of hosts-file contents,
so others could benefit. Just saying.

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jpace121
Actual patent documentation can be seen at [1].

Based on the names on the patent, the work came out of Disney Research
Pittsburgh, which does awesome research.

[1]: [http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=H...](http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-
Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-
bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=15%2F047820&OS=15/047820&RS=15/047820)

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metaphor
Thanks. The number of ads littered throughout the parent is absolutely
profane.

>> 24\. The method of claim 21, wherein the robot is a humanoid robot and the
link comprises a forearm link, an upper arm link, a torso link, a back link,
or a chest link.

So a strictly biped robot designed for safe human interaction? Is that what it
means for something to be described as _humanoid_? Not sure when I read lines
like these:

>> [0003] The present description relates, in general, to design and control
of robots including humanoid robots and _other robots adapted for interaction
with humans_.

>> [0071] Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a
certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure
has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the
combination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in
the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as
hereinafter claimed.

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DonHopkins
Here's some possible prior art:

Henry Minsky has a look of trepidation at the idea of sacrificing his Dakin
Bear to one of his dad's robotics experiments. — with Dakin Bear at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [frame grab from the skeletal
robot's video camera]

[http://imgur.com/gallery/Rt43H](http://imgur.com/gallery/Rt43H)

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Animats
Disney has been trying to get mobile character robots working for years. They
had Danny Hillis, from Thinking Machines Corp, for a while, and they got Lucky
the Dinosaur[1] out of that. But Lucky was not really balancing; the stability
comes from the cart the creature seems to be pulling.

It's not that it can't be done; it's making it completely idiot proof that's
hard.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBLwyxqx4mk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBLwyxqx4mk)

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bnycum
On the other hand they have the Muppet Mobile Lab roaming Epcot. It's on a
Segway style balancing system. I'd settle for more things like that.

[https://youtube.com/watch?v=korGn9HowJM](https://youtube.com/watch?v=korGn9HowJM)

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MilnerRoute
Once I saw a robot that pretended to be a pirate.

Matter of fact, I think I saw it at Disneyland...

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dane-pgp
Reminds me of a night time security guard job I had a while back...

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spking
For the uninitiated:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Nights_at_Freddy%27s](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Nights_at_Freddy%27s)

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sogen
The numbering system oddly sounds like the Terminator 300, 1000

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colinthompson
For their animatronic robots, their numbering system has historically referred
to the number of uniquely articulated motors/servos of a particular model.

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djsumdog
So, Disney parks will one day be filled with creepy Westwood style robots?

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sogen
Westyland the movie

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santaclaus
So... the animatronic Chuck E. Cheese band?

