DARPA plans on releasing a modified version of these robots as a platform for those participating in the Robotics Challenge but are using the government-funded equipment option. It’s expected that the final version of the platform robot will be a complete humanoid, with two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. But even without all of those body parts, the robots shown in this clip are damned impressive.

Those slow-mo sound effects of the climbing ‘bot are going to give me nightmares. Still, it’s pretty amazing to see that we’re on the verge of full-size humanoid robots that can walk, climb and even perform exercises just like us. I also like that these robots are wearing shoes. Now, drop and give me 20, PETMAN!

The contest will apparently focus towards bipedal designs that are able to navigate rough terrain and can be used for helping during industrial disasters. The robot will have to be able to navigate through a very specific set of obstacles. To start, the robot will have to be able to maneuver itself into, and  then drive an open-frame vehicle such as a tractor to a building.

Once at the building the robot will have to get off the tractor, walk to a locked door, and unlock the door with the key. Once unlocked, the robot will have to move through the door and down a hall strewn with rubble and climb a ladder at the end of the hall. After reaching the top of the ladder, the robot will have to be able to turn off a simulated leaking pipe by turning a valve nearby and then replace a faulty pump to complete the exercise.

It’s not 100% clear if the robot will need to do all of these tasks back-to-back. Regardless, it all sounds incredibly complicated for robot that is supposed to be able to do all this with very little human interaction, other than a remote operator. DARPA also plans on controlling the communication layer, which may increase the need for robotic autonomy.

The guys at Robotics blog Hizook have much more to say on the topic, and think that Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN (shown in the video above) is a likely  candidate platform for the bipedal robot to be used.

[via Hizook]

This little dude was created by Instructables tech editor Randy Sarafan, and has the best legs ever for a simple robot – each one made from a kitchen spatula, and held together with zip-ties. These give it solid footing and balance. The robot was built using a handful of household parts and electronics you can mostly find at Radio Shack. It’s brains are Arduino based, so it can be programmed to do different moves than the wobbly walk shown in the video here:

Perhaps the best thing about the spatula ‘bot is that Randy has posted detailed build instructions over on Instructables, so you can make your own kitchen-dwelling robot if you have just a little bit of the DIY chromosome in your gene pool. Me, I think I’m building one to make me whipped cream on command.

In the video below, Cornell University professor Hod Lipson demonstrates a robot which starts out with know knowledge of its own form or function, but eventually manages to walk. The bot first moves its motors randomly in order to try and assess what its shape it might be. Then it tries to figure out which actions cause the most disagreement between its predictions. The result of this logical process lets it quickly whittle down the theories it can refute about its form and function. Eventually, the robot figures out what it looks like. Once it’s determined shape it is and how many legs it has, another model kicks in which it uses to try and move forward based on its form.

Watch as this quadruped robot as goes from flapping about on the ground to actually moving:

As you can see from the video, the robot doesn’t exactly achieve the spider-like gait you’d expect. As a matter of fact, its walk is pretty primitive and inelegant. However, the fact that it eventually figures out how to move forward at all is pretty cool.

You can check out a more detailed video of the robot as it learns how to walk over on the Cornell Creative Machines Lab website.

[via YouTube]

This 6-legged robot is remote controlled and the central area can be fitted with several different projectile-shooting modules. Now do I have your attention? Good. The two shown here can fire discs or ping pong balls at varying angles, achieving great distances. It looks like there is also a dart module that isn’t talked about.

That’s cool all by itself, but he has also designed two types of armor that can be clipped on to the robot. The first is to change the color scheme, the second is for battles with other robots, and when it gets hit, it flies off. This will make for some cool robot battles for sure.

You can give Jamie suggestions for a name on YouTube. You could win a free robot if he picks your name.

[via Geek]

Developed by Associate Professor Kenichi Ohara and a team from Osaka University’s ARAI Lab, the Limb Mechanism Robot (aka ASTERISK) borrows its gait from insects. But it doesn’t just crawl around. When it sees something it needs to pick up, it can use any two of its legs as grippers while the other four remain on the ground. As shown in the video below, this is perfect for picking up smaller, defenseless creatures like stuffed rodents.

The mechanical structure of the legs also allow the ‘bot to crawl on uneven surfaces. In addition, its six legs can be fitted with wheels, so if the robot lies flat to the ground, it can roll under very tight obstacles, much like a skateboard.

Fortunately, all this technology is being developed for good, not evil. The pincers might be used to haul rubble from a disaster site, or to help move a dangerous IED out of the way of soldiers. As long as they don’t figure out a way for robots to digest living creatures and harvest their energy, I think we’re safe for now.

Under the hood, MorpHex has twelve 5990 and thirteen 5645 Hitec servos, a Basicmicro ARC-32 board, XBee, 2S 5000mAh LiPo, a Turnigy 8 Amp regulator, and a whole lot of awesome.

[via The Verge via Geeky Gadgets]

The Fraunhofer Institute has unveiled a new design for a robot that looks like a spider. The ‘bot is highly mobile and uses hydraulics for powering its legs. Each leg has a bellows system that forces fluid into the legs to make the robot scurry about.

Some versions of the spider ‘bot can even jump. The robot is intended to be used to help locate gas leaks or to check areas where humans can’t venture due to tight spaces or dangers like radiation. The researchers think the robots will be relatively cheap to produce as well, making it easy to use in situations where the robot might not be able to return.

Not only can HyQ run and jump, it’s legs are also actively compliant, which means that the robot can change the stiffness of each limb. It’s impressive to watch it do it’s thing in the video. In some ways, more impressive than it’s predecessors.

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This ‘bot can negotiate rough terrain, thanks to actuators that absorb shocks and vibrations without damage to the body. It can even kick! HyQ weighs 70 kilograms and can walk and trot at speeds up to 6 kilometers per hour. It can rear up like a horse, as well as squat jump and get all four feet off the ground. This looks like the most capable robot dog/horse yet.

[via IEEE Spectrum]

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Last year it got into the Guinness Book of Records for walking non-stop for 13 hours, which took about 100,000 steps to go 15km. This technology could have a lot of potential to aid those who can’t walk, but we are still years away from that happening. In the meantime, take some advice from Doctor Who and run!

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[via Diginfo]

AlphaDog looks just like BigDog with the exception of being larger and having a higher payload capability and range. AlphaDog can carry up to 400 pounds of gear and has some other cool systems. Alpha has internal GPS and computer vision that allows it to follow along behind a solider automatically.

The US Marines and DARPA plan to put the AlphaDog through its paces next year. The thing still creeps me out. I can see it going bezerk and stomping all over my head. Check out the video to see AlphaDog in action.

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[via IEEE Spectrum]

Back in the late 1960s, GE created the Cybernetic Anthropomorphous Machine (CAM). The so-called “Walking Truck” robot was controlled directly by an operator inside a cage, who used a series of levers not dissimilar from those you’d find in construction equipment to control the ‘bot’s movements, and mimicking his own movements. Apparently, driving the CAM was so challenging for the operator, that he’d have to take a break after about 15 minutes. I wonder if those Imperial Walker pilots had to stop every 15 minutes too.

Check out CAM in action in the archival footage below:

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Developed for a U.S. Army experiment, the CAM never saw the light of day, but at least at the time the footage was shot – it was sitting in an Army warehouse in Detroit. I wonder if it’s still there, or if some lucky sucker picked it up at an auction at some point.

[via VideoSift]

This Bipedal robot is roughly human-sized and is designed to run and jump. It was created by researchers at Ohio State University and the University of Notre Dame. The bot was designed for repeatable and controllable jumping motion. That long boom you see is there to stabilize the bot and apparently isn’t needed for the actual jumping.

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I guess it’s sort of like a robot training wheel, only it’s not a wheel. In the future, the researchers hope to push the boundaries of programming so KURMET can do more than just running and jumping. They want it to play hopscotch and do flips. I’d be more impressed if it could double-dutch.

[via Spectrum]

The Land Crawler xTreme robot offers its master a ride on top of  its square platform top, provided you don’t weigh more than 175 pounds. As it ambles around, it definitely doesn’t look like the smoothest or speediest way to get around the place, but it sure has got plenty of style doing it.

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Funny thing is the maker of the robot says he made the Land Crawler eXtreme as a toy for his 2-year old son because he told him that he wanted to ride on a robot. Why couldn’t we all have dads who were that handy with robotics?

[Singularity Hub via PopSci via Neatorama]

By building one of his walking contraptions onto the back of his brand new 6G iPod nano, and giving it a face, he’s created the cutest darned anthropomorphized iPod nano ever.

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Aww, isn’t that just so sweet you want to throw up? Thought so. Just do it over there in the corner, away from the webcam.

If you live in a city, where you walk places a lot of time or are traveling to a city you aren’t familiar with and plan on walking a lot Google has a new beta offering for you. The service is called Walking Navigation beta. The catch is that you have to be on an Android device and be using Google Maps for Mobile 4.5.

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The new beta service is just like the driving navigation, only it takes into account pedestrian walkways and bridges that cars can drive on. In a nutshell, it will route you through a park on a sidewalk rather than having you walk around the park. The app will rotate to match your direction, offers satellite images, and vibrates to tell the walker when to turn.

The robot is called Pinocchio and the aim of the project is to kinematically imitate a human walking.

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I know for a fact that walking like a human is really hard to emulate for robots, which is why this LEGO ‘bot is doubly impressive. Pinocchio was created as part of a project in the Department of Biomechanics at FSU Jena.

From the looks of this, it won’t be long before they could build a fully functional Terminator. Combine this with the Makerbot that can make more Makerbots, and we’re in a world of hurt.

[The NXTStep via Make:]

In my defense, Lola does look a lot like Hector, the imposing robot from Saturn 3. LOLA thankfully isn’t a murderous robot, she just likes to leisurely stroll around missing chairs and whatnot as she goes.

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I’m not sure why the German designers pegged it as a girl; it has no jubblies or anything. But it does have a couple of HD webcams for eyes, stands 180cm tall, weighs 60kg, and has 25 joints. The video of the thing walking around does creep me out a little, though. Damn you, Hector!

Weta Legs let stunt people and performers walk, run or jump while maintaining their balance in a creature-like gait. The legs can even be placed inside of costumes, and can be used to climb stairs. Check out the video below to see the Weta Legs in action:

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While they’re designed for use in movies, television and other professional performances, I can only imagine what fun adventurous cosplayers would have with a pair of these.

Weta Legs sell for $945 (USD) and can be ordered directly from the Weta Workshop.

This is actually Honda’s 4th version of the robot. The 3rd version was released in 1997, so it took Honda 13 years to do it. I think by now that pretty much everyone has seen video footage of this little robot walking, dancing and entertaining crowds.

This new version has a flexible waist, allowing for a smoother walking style, redesigned chest and shoulder areas. It’s about 5’3″ tall and weighs about half of what the P3 weighed, at 176 lbs. Hopefully it’s less susceptible to falling on its face.

[via PlasticPals]