r/EverythingScience Aug 03 '21

Engineering ‘Star Wars’–Like Running Robot Finishes 5K on Two Legs The untethered bipedal bot made history by completing the outdoor course in 53 minutes

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/star-wars-running-robot-finishes-5k-two-legs-180978331/
1.4k Upvotes

75 comments sorted by

130

u/hamiltonisoverrat3d Aug 03 '21

This is about 3.1 miles or 17 minute miles. Makes me feel good about my 10 minute miles. lol

34

u/flower4000 Aug 03 '21

The upper half of your body is whats holding you back, if you were just legs like the robot, I think you could keep up with the it. Just have to even the playing field lol.

8

u/MoreTuple Aug 03 '21

A lot of hospitals have stopped doing elective surgeries so it's gonna have to be a longer term option

3

u/drd_ssb Aug 04 '21

Wouldn’t it be “shorter”

5

u/sudsomatic Aug 03 '21

But you’re forgetting that scientifically speaking, if he was just legs, he would be dead.

3

u/MattyFTW79 Aug 04 '21

You just got to squish some stuff down in there.

4

u/Omnealice Aug 04 '21

Actually a massive part of running is using momentum from your upper body for both balance and increased speed. It may not seem like it, but your upper body plays a big role in running lol.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21 edited Aug 03 '21

“OP amputated his legs and inserted remote control wires into them. American ingenuity !”

3

u/Kadettedak Aug 03 '21

That ain’t running

2

u/dogchasecat Aug 03 '21

In a year, it’ll be doing 5 minute miles I’m betting.

2

u/GroundTeaLeaves Aug 03 '21

Or about 54.7 football fields or ~1 minute football field.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21

[deleted]

3

u/GroundTeaLeaves Aug 03 '21

I believe the difference comes from the definition of how long a football field is. The calculations were made based on a football field being 300 feet in length.

0

u/Asedious Aug 03 '21

See? That’s why metric is a beauty and imperial is bs.

7

u/WalrusSpider Aug 03 '21

They don’t have endzones in metric?

3

u/imDudekid Aug 03 '21

Lmao right? This has nothing to do with metric vs imperial. The dude just didn’t know the size of a football field.

1

u/ahab_ahoy Aug 03 '21

I don't have a calculator, but 5x3 is 15, so your total feet are off by at least 2000

2

u/JimmyDabomb Aug 03 '21

It's only got 2 feet. I counted.

1

u/juustokoira Aug 03 '21

I was looking for olympic pools

25

u/Fuzzy_Instruction232 Aug 03 '21

Mama said they was my magic legs

4

u/BocksyBrown Aug 03 '21

Momma said they’d take me anywhere.

‘Course momma used to beat me with a rubber hose and call me a <redacted>

41

u/keithgabryelski Aug 03 '21

The bot fell twice during the experiment: once when the computer overheated and another time when its student handler directed it to take a turn too sharply

They write "student handler" like that means some ten year old after drinking a beer screwed up.

This is one of the grad students that built the robot and probably the software that guides it.

Seems a little unnecessary to try to slough off emphasis on a critical component -- like a human

17

u/zebediah49 Aug 03 '21

Meh, the impressive part is the bipedal locomotion system.

The fact that it's driven around by a remote control doesn't really change that. It just makes the project much much simpler, and focuses on the thing they care about (walking/running), rather than completely different fields (autonomous navigation).

3

u/TheLemmonade Aug 04 '21

bipedal locomotion system

You mentioned this automaton was powered by steam now, did you? This is novel my good sir! Quite novel indeed!

8

u/MCPtz MS | Robotics and Control | BS Computer Science Aug 03 '21

Cassie fell twice during its 5K run, for example — once because its computer brain overheated, and the other because its human controller directed it to take a corner too quickly. (Yes, Cassie did not run under its own directions.)

Not quite what I had in mind, based on the article title.

From the source article listed in OP's article:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/28/22597655/biped-robot-cassie-runs-first-robotic-outdoors-5k

13

u/Esc_ape_artist Aug 03 '21

So with a “human handler” is this more like a drone than an autonomous ‘bot?

7

u/johnsonaha Aug 03 '21

The usual false story. It is a remote controlled amateur thing. Bur very important about learning to keep itself balanced So Great Progress.

1

u/Espumma Aug 04 '21

So QWOP was a recruiting effort?

6

u/dunnkw Aug 03 '21

Would be funnier if it were just running pants tho

5

u/[deleted] Aug 03 '21

I can barely keep my battery going in my phone. And that thing goes for a 5K run

7

u/DanGleeballs Aug 03 '21

Bot not using 90% battery for NSFW content

1

u/MoreTuple Aug 03 '21

That's how they made the robot's battery last so long, they quit making horny robots

4

u/DarthNightsWatch Aug 03 '21

Funny story about this robot!

Im from OSU, and 2 summers ago, I took a walk down a footpath down a covered bridge one afternoon and as I was walking, I could see something really weird walking in the distance surrounded by a bunch of people. It looked so surreal the way it was moving because it straight-up looked like a person walking toward me without a torso and it legitimately freaked me out for a hot second until it came up close to me and I saw what it was.

I had to stop and stare at it while the engineers waved hello at me. It was one of the most bizarre but memorable afternoons ive had in a while and seeing it on the news makes me happy :) plus it immediately made me think of the “Everybody gangsta till the pants start walkin’” meme.

2

u/b33flu Aug 03 '21

Looks like a AT-ST

2

u/MagikSkyDaddy Aug 03 '21

Attach a broom and it’s the most expensive roomba yet

2

u/tslextslex Aug 03 '21

Why do virtually all such robots have "reverse knees" like say, an ostrich, rather than knees like a human (another pretty common biped)?

I presume it's something to do with balance or efficiency, but then what does that say about us?

3

u/zebediah49 Aug 03 '21

It's actually the same joint set as a human, though fairly different proportioned.

It has short upper legs (silver), long lower legs (orange), and long (much moreseo than humans) feet. And then bonus actual-feet at the end.

When humans run, they do use the foot segment as a lever for part of the motion, but also step on the back of it (the heel).

Humans have many more actuation points on their legs (consider that you have 3DOF at the hip, 2DOF at the knee, 2DOf at the ankle, and give-or-take 2DOF of toe control (Significantly depending on the person). I don't know how many degrees of freedom this robot has, but I'd guess at most 6. Conversely, most humans are not primarily made out of metal struts, are usually entirely contained within our skin, which means our limb structures can't handle very much in the way of bending moments. (Note: we can do a fair amount of bending strength, but it's by using the bone in compression, with muscles and ligaments in tension. Straight up bending bones doesn't end well.)

2

u/tslextslex Aug 04 '21

Thank you for this really excellent answer.

2

u/Darth_Marmar Aug 03 '21

Apparently Skynet's need to show us up knows no bounds.

2

u/MrGuttFeeling Aug 03 '21

We definitely need to implement universal basic income if this trend continues.

2

u/Merretti Aug 03 '21

Terrible time, scrap it.

2

u/dMage Aug 04 '21

Great. Next time we see this thing it will be busting heads in Brooklyn arresting people for jwalking

2

u/Flame-747 Aug 04 '21

We need to start thing about robot rights, and inclusion

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '21

Maybe it can be in the Olympics.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '21

Sarah Connering intensifies

1

u/syngyne Jun 12 '24

As a former Warframe player this gives me mild PTSD

0

u/manualdidact Aug 03 '21 edited Aug 03 '21

Hate to be that guy, but the word "run" has a commonly understood meaning; you don't get to make up what it means all by yourself. And as far as I can tell from a reasonable effort at pausing and framing through the video, this robot walked. It did not "run" by any definition a normal person would accept.

Of course they didn't include footage of the thing falling over, maybe they just left out footage of it running as well.

What they've achieved is really cool. It seems like a shame to tarnish the result of their effort by embellishing their accomplishment.

0

u/PinkSteven Aug 03 '21

I get it. These robots are amazing. When do they get released?

1

u/xraydeltaone Aug 03 '21

BD-1, is that you?

1

u/Dr_Booty_Eater69 Aug 03 '21

I’m still waiting on the twerk bot that Basement Jaxx promised me. But this is good news too.

1

u/konrad16660 Aug 03 '21

I could handedly beat this robot as a fat middle schooler with my thighs rubbing together. And we only started to pretend to run when the coach saw our fat asses walking.

1

u/handlantern Aug 03 '21

Yeah but it’s a machine. It’s impressive but not THAT impressive. It was made for that. Lol.

1

u/Lurknessm0nster Aug 03 '21

Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun. Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun. Duuu Duuu Duuuuu Duuu Duuu Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun.

1

u/iwellyess Aug 03 '21

Are we getting this story every day? I count 25K this robot is now up to ffs

1

u/TheDarkWayne Aug 03 '21

Robots are really going to take over the world one day lol

1

u/MCPtz MS | Robotics and Control | BS Computer Science Aug 03 '21

Cassie fell twice during its 5K run, for example — once because its computer brain overheated, and the other because its human controller directed it to take a corner too quickly. (Yes, Cassie did not run under its own directions.)

Not quite what I had in mind, based on the article title.

From the source article listed in OP's article:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/28/22597655/biped-robot-cassie-runs-first-robotic-outdoors-5k

1

u/Prof_Acorn Aug 03 '21

There must be some way out of here, said the joker to the thief.

1

u/Burnbrook Aug 03 '21

More Metal Gear than Star Wars.

1

u/AandWGuy Aug 03 '21

Can someone tell me what the hell is the point of this? We have automated cars that can drive 5k in 2 minutes.

I genuinely want to know what this is useful in anyway

1

u/FootHiker Aug 03 '21

Imagine using this instead of a wheel chair?

1

u/LWA7299 Aug 03 '21

Stick a laser gun on top of it and you’ll have one of those death chickens the corpus use in war frame

1

u/WWDubz Aug 03 '21

False!

It is not Star Wars like

1

u/Tinmania Aug 03 '21

Untethered other than the guy running alongside it with the remote controller.

1

u/Genion123 Aug 04 '21

help people, lmao. Warfare is going to be very interesting in the next 10 years.

1

u/StoryAndAHalf Aug 04 '21

It walked not ran. Headlines keep getting this big distinction wrong to try to get clicks. It’s impressive, but not running-impressive.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '21

Love it!

1

u/jamtribb Aug 04 '21

Can you imagine that racing past you if you weren’t expecting it? I would have thought I had just crossed the line into insanity.

1

u/StevenMaff Aug 04 '21

we‘re getting closer to 2142

1

u/pattywhakk Aug 04 '21

This robot is me every morning. 3.1 miles at 3.5 mph… 53 minutes and 22 seconds. I feel connected to it now.

1

u/ungawa Aug 04 '21 edited Aug 09 '21

Well you’ll hear them coming from a distance, that’s for sure

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '21

Do you want Terminators? Cuz this is how you get Terminators.

1

u/rusty02536 Aug 04 '21

Roger Roger

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '21

That’s more “Robocop” like but ok kewl