Things that make you go, Hmm… Or make you think of ‘Terminator.’ Obviously this could either be a fabulous thing or go very wrong. I suppose how robots turn out depends ultimately on the condition of humanity. What do you think– are robots like this a good or a bad idea? If it goes wrong, it can go very wrong, but if used for good, well, the benefits can be amazing.
Meet Atlas, the Pentagon’s 6’2″, 330-pound humanitarian robot. He was designed to save lives in disaster zones (like Fukushima). But while this Tin Man has a heart, he lacks a brain. In December, seven teams of scientists from top institutions, including MIT and Virginia Tech, will compete to code the bot for action. Each team will send its own Atlas into Darpa’s trials—eight tasks that will test his ability to navigate degraded terrain, drive a utility vehicle, and enter buildings. “We designed Atlas to facilitate programming, but we expect Darpa to make the competition challenging,” says Marc Raibert, president of Boston Dynamics, Atlas’ maker. Here’s the skinny on the massive bot.
Looks like a grant money pit built to lumber around the parking lot of the engineering building. Doubt if could cross a shallow stream full of mossy rocks, climb a tree, sand dune or pile of loose rubble. The kid from the “Home Alone” movie could have it down in five minutes if the batteries last that long.
Hello Battlestar Gallactica.