The machines are coming! Google has built a humanoid robot that can run very fast.
Stop whatever you are doing and just run; run very fast. Google-owned Boston Dynamics has just created a humanoid Atlas robot that can chase you through forests!
The robot is tethered to a power lead but the Boston Dynamics team working on the project is developing a version that doesn’t need to be tethered.
Two years ago, Google X Labs acquired Boston Dynamics, adding to a coterie of robotics companies it has bought, including Meka, Redwood Robotics, Bot & Dolly, Autofuss, Schaft, Industrial Perception and Holomni.
Boston Dynamics is a Massachusetts-based engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the Pentagon.
Its creations include Cheetah, a four-legged robot that can run faster than most humans; an anthropomorphic robot named Ian that can mimic the iconic crane kick in Karate Kid, and Spot, a four-legged dog robot that can open doors with its face.
But this humanoid robot that can chase people menacingly through a forest is like something out of your darkest nightmares.
Speaking at MIT’s FAB11 conference, Boston Dynamics’ founder Marc Raibert demonstrated how the robot mimics human ability to move faster in order not to fall over when walking on uneven terrain.
“We’re interested in getting this robot out into the world,” he said, pointing at a lurching machine that sprints through the forest with a Freddy Kruger-like gait.
War machine image via Shutterstock
