Submission + - Japan responds to Boston Robotics' New Atlas demo video. (ieee.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Some seven weeks ago, a new light-weight version of the american Atlas humanoid robot made global headlines by easily walking in the woods and getting up from serious physical abuse.
( https://hardware.slashdot.org/... )
At that time many netizens wondered how the once dominating japanese robotics industry has lost traction with their cute, but fragile and limited ASIMO humanoid model? Today, SCHAFT company, the former robotics lab of Tokyo University and winner of the 2013 DARPA Challenge Trials, demonstrated their response to the american Terminator.
The yet-unnamed and torsoless, bipedal robot looks like a petite hybrid of H.G. Wells' martian space invaders and Imperial chicken walkers. Although SCHAFT still needs to improve the robot's speed, it can carry 60kg / 132lbs cargo, keep balance over loose pipes, fit in narrow corridors and move over rough terrain, including sandy beaches and a walk in the woods that resembles the New Atlas video.
Google and its Alphabet parent company may now rejoice, since they own both of these demonstrably successful robotic tech houses and won't be cut off from the pioneering scene, even after they have sold off the Boston Robotics branch. On the other hand, the menial and humiliating chores assigned to SCHAFT's robot, like spin-brushing floors and serving dishes to human masters, may influence a future cybernetic uprisal just as much as those heavy kicks suffered by the New Atlas.
( https://hardware.slashdot.org/... )
At that time many netizens wondered how the once dominating japanese robotics industry has lost traction with their cute, but fragile and limited ASIMO humanoid model? Today, SCHAFT company, the former robotics lab of Tokyo University and winner of the 2013 DARPA Challenge Trials, demonstrated their response to the american Terminator.
The yet-unnamed and torsoless, bipedal robot looks like a petite hybrid of H.G. Wells' martian space invaders and Imperial chicken walkers. Although SCHAFT still needs to improve the robot's speed, it can carry 60kg / 132lbs cargo, keep balance over loose pipes, fit in narrow corridors and move over rough terrain, including sandy beaches and a walk in the woods that resembles the New Atlas video.
Google and its Alphabet parent company may now rejoice, since they own both of these demonstrably successful robotic tech houses and won't be cut off from the pioneering scene, even after they have sold off the Boston Robotics branch. On the other hand, the menial and humiliating chores assigned to SCHAFT's robot, like spin-brushing floors and serving dishes to human masters, may influence a future cybernetic uprisal just as much as those heavy kicks suffered by the New Atlas.
