
Alphabet X new bipedal robot can climb stairs and overcome obstacles - nzonbi
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/148771/20160409/alphabet-x-showcases-new-bipedal-robot-that-can-climb-stairs-and-overcome-obstacles.htm
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Animats
Very nice. It's good to know that Schaft is doing something. The leg mechanism
is clever; they can run the legs in and out, without having to deal with the
large forces needed to operate a knee joint. This is probably more useful in
the near term than Boston Dynamics' hydraulic monsters. This is a big flat-
footed machine, not an aggressive active balancer - less ambitious
technically, but more useful.

It doesn't have any arms, but Google has some other startups into
manipulation. Maybe they can get their companies to work together. The next
generation might be good enough for factory work, moving around machines and
loading and unloading parts.

One picture seems to shows a little spinning brush-like thing sticking out the
side of the foot, like the wall following sensor on early Roombas. Is that a
sensor? Seems an odd choice today.

They do look a little like the robots from "Silent Running", but that's OK.

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PhasmaFelis
> _The leg mechanism is clever; they can run the legs in and out, without
> having to deal with the large forces needed to operate a knee joint._

Yeah, that's interesting. I know I've seen sci-fi robots with sliding pistons
instead of knees; it seems like a pretty straightforward concept. I don't
recall anyone besides SCHAFT attempting it seriously, though. I wonder why?
(Or have I missed previous attempts?)

> _The next generation might be good enough for factory work_

Hmm. I would think that factory work is a prime case where wheels are more
effective than legs, though.

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beeboop
Depends on the factory. Here's a picture from Boeing's:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Boeing_F...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Boeing_Factory_2002.jpg)

Especially relevant due to "No FOD" sign (meaning there's sometimes shit lying
around that the a bipedal robot could walk over).

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TranquilMarmot
Holy shit, that website is atrocious (I also don't have an adblocker
installed...)

Here's a direct link to the video for anyone hoping to avoid a monster of
"modern" web development:
[https://youtu.be/iyZE0psQsX0](https://youtu.be/iyZE0psQsX0)

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kidgorgeous
Same reaction. And thanks, you're a gentleman and a scholar!

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deepnet
This robot will be inherently stable, which is a good start. A clever
underslung chassy approaach to balance.

 _Knees_ higher than pelvis is inherently stable under load - ( akin to spider
and beetle legs ) - this makes that useful mechanical linkage adjustable.

Mechanical Intelligence is important, this robot _thinks_ mechanically with
its 'knees'.

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visarga
So, what's stopping them from making 2.5m high units? Making it small and cute
is just a trick to reduce the fear inspired by Boston Dynamics' war bots. I
like this bot but I liked the BD bots too, sad to see such a promising company
be cut off.

Just take a look here, ain't it cute? So human-like (after a few bottles of
wine)

[https://youtu.be/rVlhMGQgDkY?t=38](https://youtu.be/rVlhMGQgDkY?t=38)

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smoyer
Getting closer to seeing terminators around every corner - it's not being
paranoid if it's true!

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JabavuAdams
Robots aren't affected by nerve gas. The terminators won't come for us with
shiny exoskeletons and miniguns.

EDIT> Bullets are expensive. Industrial chemicals are cheap.

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aortega
Climb stairs, overcome obstacles, and tell you that you have 20 seconds to
comply.

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morgante
This looks quite similar to the robots from Interstellar.

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ogrisel
Yes I though the same. Especially when it walks in natural landscapes (e.g. on
the beach and the snowy forest).

I find the view of autonomous human artifacts roaming in otherwise unaltered
natural landscapes aesthetically very pleasing.

Sci-Fi is real. We leave in the future.

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keypusher
Seems strange to showcase a robot that looks less impressive than the product
of the company they recently announced they were trying to sell.

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msie
I was more impressed by this over the Boston Dynamics stuff. The BD robots
looked like they had some size and noise problems to overcome.

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PhasmaFelis
If the SCHAFT robot is quieter and less bulky than the BD models, it's because
it's running off of batteries instead of a piston engine, which means it will
have a regrettably short range before needing a recharge. (The BD bots are
much quieter when attached to a power cable in a lab.) Nobody's gonna get
around that limitation until there's a major breakthrough in battery tech.

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elsewhen
an autonomous robot can go swap out it's own batteries, or go charge itself.
if it can operate for 24 hours a day, losing ~5% of that time for battery
swapping is not that significant.

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PhasmaFelis
Depends on what you're using it for. The Boston Dynamics jobbies were intended
for search and rescue, or accompanying soldiers on foot; they'd need to go for
hours or days without access to resupply.

My point was just that this thing isn't quiet because of better engineering,
it's quiet because it's made for a different job.

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elsewhen
agreed that it is designed for a different job. but those different jobs are
likely to represent a huge percentage of the market (home, office and factory
environments). i dont think that in these settings a relatively short battery
life will be "regrettable" at all. as i mentioned above, swapping batteries is
an easy solution to the problem.

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hugs
This remind me of RoboCop's ED-209, which also had a linear-motion way of
moving the lower leg.

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moreati
The video has a proto Ed-209 at 1m25s
[https://youtu.be/iyZE0psQsX0?t=1m25s](https://youtu.be/iyZE0psQsX0?t=1m25s)

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eveningcoffee
They have lowered the center of gravity. Pretty clever.

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justifier
brilliant

i love this track as leg idea

it looks so stupid obvious when it is working this nicely

congrats on vision and execution

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JabavuAdams
Yeah, right? This is the kind of innovation that makes me feel stupid. Well
done.

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antaviana
Thrilled to see that the presenter is wearing a FC Barcelona shirt, 1999
centennial edition. Força Barça!

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mentos
Definitely see this being a commercial product to help around the home

