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Science & Technology

NASA unveils prototype humanoid robot

By T.K. Randall
December 16, 2013 · Comment icon 7 comments

The robot looks like something from a science fiction movie. Image Credit: IEEE Spectrum
The American space agency has revealed that it has been developing a 6ft robot known as Valkyrie.
Weighing in at 20 stone, NASA's answer to Iron Man features sophisticated articulated legs and arms, a head that can tilt and swivel and hands with three fingers and a thumb.
Capable of tasks such as walking across uneven terrain, driving, climbing ladders and using tools, the robot has been designed to be as autonomous and human-like as possible. At the moment it can operate for around an hour from one charge of the battery it carries around in its backpack.

Valkyrie is NASA's entry in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a competition that aims to drive innovation towards robots able to take over the tasks conventionally assigned to humans. Competing against it for a $2 million prize will be Boston Dynamics' own Atlas robot which sports a similar humanoid design.



Source: Telegraph | Comments (7)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by paperdyer 12 years ago
Let's take more work away from humans, increase the out of work force and put a bigger strain on the economy. Taxes will need to go up to replace the lost taxes paid by workers, unless the corporate taxes are increased to a level where the company still makes more money than they did with living workers and the governments get enough to take care of the people out of work. Capitalism at its finest. Companies make more, people get screwed.
Comment icon #2 Posted by Xynoplas 12 years ago
We are working more and more to make labor saving devices. Our vacations at least should be little longer?
Comment icon #3 Posted by super.fantastik 12 years ago
It can drive? What the hell. That's craziness I tell ya~
Comment icon #4 Posted by Jacques Terreur 12 years ago
i would've liked to see it a little more "in action", from what they show in the video, it's just hanging there suspended from the roof and gets to turn a wheel in the end, really slow. Even with all those fancy cameras attached, it seems like this robot has nothing on ASIMO....
Comment icon #5 Posted by Arkitecht 12 years ago
Need one like this:
Comment icon #6 Posted by kobolds 12 years ago
is there a reason to make human size Robot ?
Comment icon #7 Posted by Slave2Fate 12 years ago
is there a reason to make human size Robot ? Easier that way. The robot can work in environments built for humans without having to over-engineer a smaller robot to adapt while maintaining enough capacity for servos, batteries and the like. Unless you were talking about a larger robot which would have trouble 'fitting' where humans could.


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