Robots are replacing human workers more and more. Image Credit: YouTube / Boston Dynamics
Known as 'Handle', the US robotics firm's latest creation could one day completely replace warehouse workers.
The new robot, which has been described by some news outlets as a 'mechanical ostrich', is able to balance on just two wheels as it picks boxes up from one pallet and deposits them on to another.
Unlike some of the firm's previous creations, this one appears to have been designed specifically for use in a warehouse environment and could ultimately serve to automate jobs that are currently performed by human workers.
What makes it particularly interesting is its unusual bird-like design and sophisticated balancing behavior - an odd choice, perhaps, given that four wheels may have been more efficient.
Even so, there is no denying that Handle is an impressive machine and one that certainly wouldn't look out of place in a scene from a science fiction movie.
So I can give you an (almost) indestructible robot arm with a grip strength of 2500 psi, able to fully rotate the wrist and it can even provide some feedback when touching things but the catch is you have to lose your human arm. What say you?
Thanks for the cool links. Don't get me wrong, these robots are all awesome and I love seeing the tech move forward. There is however a time-lag between prototype and production as well as acceptance. Things are moving at an incredible pace tech wise, so five years is probably a conservative estimate for 80%. One has to be a little careful about taking these videos and statistics at face value though. Take the Parkour video for instance. Its a little less shiny when you know it took 20 or 30 tries. You are correct in my opinion, saying software is the hang-up. With robots more trial and erro... [More]
I have seen this robot. It's definitely cutting edge automation but far from true ai. This might be as close as we ever get though. Her responses are from a preprogrammed list some of which were designed for media attention obviously.
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