Boston Dynamics' PETMAN Humanoid On Video 70
An anonymous reader writes "IEEE reports that Boston Dynamics has unveiled video footage showing its biped humanoid robot PETMAN walking, kneeling, and doing push-ups. Boston Dynamics is building the robot for the U.S. Army, which will use it to test chemical protective suits for soldiers. The requirement was that the robot had to be the approximate size of a 50th percentile adult male (180 pounds, nearly 6 feet tall) and capable of a full range of dynamic movements. The company says PETMAN could also be used to survey disaster zones and access hazardous environments."
A military robot that can kneel. (Score:2)
A military robot that can kneel?
Our military robots should kneel to no man (or bot). If it is going to kneel- can it least learn how to bake eclaires too?
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It wasn't kneeling.
It was Tebowing.
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Envision those "arms" holding a rifle in the firing position and things start to make more sense...
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Or defusing a land mine, or any number of other human-life-saving tasks.
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According to the Army requirements, the robot has to have about the same weight and dimensions of a 50th percentile male (the size of a standard crash-test dummy), or a mass of 80 kilograms (about 180 pounds) and height of about 1.75 meters (nearly 6 feet). PETMAN also has to simulate respiration, sweating, and changes in skin temperature based on the amount of physical exertion. Boston Dynamics used motion-capture systems to study the movements of humans as they performed a variety of exercises.
Yep.
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Yeah, the "Respiration, sweating," etc. threw me off too. My guess, based on the rest of the article is that the requirement isn't that it sweat and breathe, but that it not produce more moisture or heat than a human under the same exertion. That would allow it to use equipment that was tested with humans such as weaponry, testing equipment for dangerous environments or bomb-defusing tools. For example, if it threw off lots of heat when walking, it might not be something you want to use for bomb disposal...
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The push-ups are lame. (Score:2)
The push-ups are lame.
The walking, however, is totally badass.
But, as with all Boston Dynamics video releases, we have to ask: where is its head?
Re:The push-ups are lame. (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah a robot called "PET MAN" that kneels and has no head.
This robot must have been designed by a woman.
Gonna Fly Now (Score:3)
Am I the only one who heard the Rocky theme song in my head while I watched it?
If the robot starts punching meat we know we got a contenda
(until then, you're a bum PETMAN! A BUM!)
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That kind of war could be fought with missiles right now if someone wanted to, boots on the ground can hand a child a bottle of water or help defend engineers as they rewire a village after repeated bombings.
Just sayin'
No, you couldn't fight a war like that, because human being have to authorise the launch of the missiles and human beings are accountable for their actions.
Finally! (Score:3)
Creepawesome (Score:2)
Sorry, Ive been a bit out of the robotics loop lately, but holey freaking crap. If that isnt "uncanny valley" freaky, I dont know what is. It seems we really will see something resembling 100% humanoid robots in my lifetime. Tethered or not (think factory worker, hazmat, or ... military...) this is amazingly cool (creepy).
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Great sex toy (Score:2)
Pet _MAN
How appropriate.
It will be a hit with woman.
It let's itself be pushed around,
It checks the toilet seat state.
It proposes on one knee.
The only flaw I see, is that it only seems to know the missionary position...
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Except in french, where PET translates to FART. Oh well, It might sell well in some perverted Parisians circles.
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According to British porn, anyway.
Power? (Score:2)
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It is a research platform for movement, balance and agility.
I thought it was supposed to be for the military to use in actual testing?
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My house has plenty of places for a humanoid robot to plug itself into. We have also been know to use extension cords, so that doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch. In fact, the building codes in my area say that you cannot build a house with the electrical outlets more than 12 feet apart.
Unfortunately and teenagers notwithstanding, houses are not typical warzones.
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It says in the description of the video that this robot is used to test clothing.
It does all sorts of movements that soldiers would do, that's how you test clothing.
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It says in the description of the video that this robot is used to test clothing.
It does all sorts of movements that soldiers would do, that's how you test clothing.
It also says this in tfa:
"I also asked Raibert if they could eventually use PETMAN or PETMAN-related technologies in other projects. In other words, are we going to see PETMAN used in applications other than the chemical suit tests? "You bet," he says. "There are all sorts of things robots like PETMAN could be used for. Any place that has been designed for human access, mobility, or manipulation skills. Places like the Fukushima reactors could be accessed by PETMAN-like robots (or AlphaDogs), without req
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiTricity [wikipedia.org]
Hector! (Score:3)
Can it be untethered? (Score:2)
Impressive but, can it be untethered? If so, for how long?
It isn't shown getting down to do the pushups. (Score:2)
Or getting back up.
The new Buster (Score:2)
Mythbusters totally need one of these. I can already see them covering it with dead pig parts for use as a human analogue.
Geoff Peterson says... (Score:2)
Balls.
pushups are hard (Score:2)
The robot made doing pushups look as hard as I find them to do.
Do the top 1% percent need us? (Score:1)
I wonder what will the occupy wall street and 99% movements will make of this. Democracy can't work in presence of assembly lines of robot soldiers and workers. The technology is not there yet, but will be before the next generation is 30-40 years old.
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Here's my prediction: when robotic combat troops are deployed, they'll be deployed against American citizens.
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Who owns the robots owns the wealth.
Then humanity should own the robots collectively. A system with a handful of people owning 99% of the world's wealth will not be sustainable.
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Alas, my friend, it has been sustainable for the better part of 30,000 years.
Soon to be Diesel-powered (Score:2)
Petman doesn't have a standalone power requirement. It's partly for equipment testing and partly a technology testbed. BigDog is powered by a small gasoline engine, and AlphaDog will be Diesel-powered.
Blomkamp's Tetra Vaal (Score:3)
A comparison to make here is with Neill Blomkamp's pre District 9 work, the Tetra Vaal short.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6645931304419661379 [google.com]
Has to sweat? (Score:1)
From the article:
According to the Army requirements, the robot has to have about the same weight and dimensions of a 50th percentile male (the size of a standard crash-test dummy), or a mass of 80 kilograms (about 180 pounds) and height of about 1.75 meters (nearly 6 feet). PETMAN also has to simulate respiration, sweating, and changes in skin temperature based on the amount of physical exertion.
Emphasis mine. Anyone know why the Army wants a robot that respires, sweats and changes skin temp? Weird...
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Anyone know why the Army wants a robot that respires, sweats and changes skin temp? Weird...
The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy, but these are new. They look human... sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot.
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Wires (Score:2)
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