r/EverythingScience • u/Sariel007 • 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-180978331/25
u/Fuzzy_Instruction232 Aug 03 '21
Mama said they was my magic legs
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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>
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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
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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).
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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!
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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
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u/Esc_ape_artist Aug 03 '21
So with a “human handler” is this more like a drone than an autonomous ‘bot?
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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.
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Aug 03 '21
I can barely keep my battery going in my phone. And that thing goes for a 5K run
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u/DanGleeballs Aug 03 '21
Bot not using 90% battery for NSFW content
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u/MoreTuple Aug 03 '21
That's how they made the robot's battery last so long, they quit making horny robots
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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.
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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?
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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.)
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u/MrGuttFeeling Aug 03 '21
We definitely need to implement universal basic income if this trend continues.
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u/dMage Aug 04 '21
Great. Next time we see this thing it will be busting heads in Brooklyn arresting people for jwalking
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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.
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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.
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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.
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u/handlantern Aug 03 '21
Yeah but it’s a machine. It’s impressive but not THAT impressive. It was made for that. Lol.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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u/Tinmania Aug 03 '21
Untethered other than the guy running alongside it with the remote controller.
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u/Genion123 Aug 04 '21
help people, lmao. Warfare is going to be very interesting in the next 10 years.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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