Chairbot Walks You Around While You Sit

Gary writes "What do you get when you combine a robot and a chair? The Hubo FX-1 chairbot, of course. In what is perhaps my favorite robot design yet, this giant chair with legs looks like it came out of some ridiculous 80's sci-fi movie or something, but it's very, very real. HUBO FX-1 is two meters in height, and weighs 150 kg. The person sitting can control the robot easily using the built in joystick. Each ankle has a 3-axis force/torque sensor which measures the normal force and 2 moments. Each foot has an inclination sensor which measures the angle of the slope. Also, the rate gyro and the inclination sensor of the body allow the device to stabilize itself."

Re:One thought

[Original Replica]

...but hey, it's a bit like a Mech!"

If enough armor can be packed on it, the "mech" platform might be more effective in urban combat than tanks. At least for patrolling an area, if not the original capture of an urban environment. Of course then we would only be a few years away from police in the US and EU from using "mechs" in riot control, and then we would be screwed. As it is G8 already has 1000 injured protesters. "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6728303.stm [bbc.co.uk]

Spider car!

[MaWeiTao]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this thing [youtube.com]. It's kind of scary to see it in motion.

Re:One thought

[paleo2002]

I just wonder WTF would buy a 2m tall 2 legged monstrosity, when 6 short legs would be much simpler to control and balance. This thing is rediculously impractical.

Whenever a new design for a 2-legged robot shows up, people immediately complain about how impractical bipedalism is and that the problem can easily be solved with more legs. But if that were the case, if there were no advantage to bipedalism, then bipedal organisms would not have shown up at all, let alone numerous times in separate groups of animals through history.

Once the balance problem has been solved, bipedal robots will be as fast and agile as bipedal humans, dinosaurs (avian and non-), etc. And then Will Smith will have to save us all from them.

1/2 chevaline

[zobier]

I want a chevaline. It looks like we're half way there (and about 6 times too heavy -- but I wouldn't mind not being able to carry it around).

Re:One thought

[RodgerDodger]

Correction - G8 has some rioters (no numbers given in the linked article) who decided to charge a police line. There's not even the remotest suggestion here that the police suppressed an otherwise peaceful protest. In an article linked from that article, there's a mention of how police used tear gas and batons to break up a group of rioters who "threw bottles, fire crackers, rocks and Molotov cocktails" and "broken up paving stones to use as projectiles and overturned and torched several vehicles". At least 146 police were injured by these rioters. As further evidence of the lack of police instigation, several other truly peaceful protests had no incidents.

Peaceful protests don't break down into riots. Peaceful protests don't have the protesters being caught on film throwing Molotov cocktails and smashing up cars with crowbars.