Best to keep your doors locked when this thing is around. Image Credit: YouTube / Boston Dynamics
The firm's dog-like SpotMini robot is now able to use its robotic arm to turn handles and hold doors open.
The latest version of the robot, which was revealed back in November, has now received another upgrade enabling it to perform a common task that most of us take for granted.
In a new video released this week, a SpotMini with a robotic arm can be seen not only turning the handle and opening a door but also holding it open for another robot to walk through.
The process may seem trivial, but to program a robot to not only recognize what a door is but to also physically manipulate the handle, open the door and then walk through it is really quite impressive.
Exactly what Boston Dynamics intends to do with these robots however remains unclear.
If the "dog" is ever given an A-I I guess we'll eventually find out programmed or learned. The real dog is still ahead. I wouldn't want one of those bots on my lap wanted to cuddle and be rubbed. My daughter's Husky thinks he's a lap dog and he's heavy enough.
These robots aren't really thinking robots as in they don't contemplate the meaning of why they do something and learn from it. They do learn, in that when they find a method they will repeat it. Most of the actions like recovering on ice are using input from sensors in the legs and body of the beast to tell it which legs are slipping and tip sensors which record inertia in a direction. It also has gyros to help it balance and a host of microprocessors to interpret the data and make corrections. It doesn't have to think omg I am going to fall because it doesn't fear falling like we would, but ... [More]
To be honest, I'm not sure what the angle is with this telegraph article. It uses pretty bizarre language, such as "certain to draw parallels to man's worst nightmare" and "thousands sharing the "terrifying" clip." It's just technology with a mutitude of beneficial applications at this stage. Sure, AI is something that may require moral and ethical scrutiny if it ever gets anywhere close to actual intelligence, but in its current form it's simply an advanced tool. Take the technology we already have, such as the Mars Rover - I'm sure there's a dog-related pun in there somewhere - and add thi... [More]
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