Because how are robots going to overthrow humanity if we don’t make them tough, harbingers of the apocalypse IHMC Robotics has conspired with Boardwalk Robotics to develop a Nadia humanoid robot capable of maintaining its balance after getting shoved on a treadmill. Yeah, make it resilient then piss it off!
Currently an already funded Kickstarter campaign, Moonwalkers are $1,100+ motorized shoes that can increase a person’s walking speed up to 250%, from around 2.5MPH to 6 or 7MPH. Each strap-on shoe has eight wheels (so there’s no need to balance), which provide an extra glide after each step. Some more
Because everybody’s dream is different, this is a video documenting Youtuber Electrosync’s quest to build the world’s fastest Roomba. For reference, a stock Roomba has a top speed of about 1.1MPH, but after the addition of some high performance motors and other R/C car electronics, Electrosync’s Roomba can hit 35MPH.
These are several videos of an impressively made “>Optimus Prime toy from Robosen Robotics ($1000!) that not only fully transforms from tractor trailer to humanoid (and back again) by itself, but also takes vocal commands. Honestly, I hate robots with a passion and it still made its way to the
Because soon all sports will be played entirely by robots, this is a video of Google’s i-S2R ping pong playing robot completing a 4-minute, 340-shot rally with a human before it nets a ball because clearly there’s still work to be done. That’s cool, but why did they name it
Hopefully named Johnny 5 Appleseed or its creators completely blew it, this is a video of a robotic apple harvester picking about 30 apples in a minute, using the latest in apple-identifying technology and its six suction-cupped hands to get the job done. That’s cool. For reference, I’ve never actually
Because the robotic apocalypse can’t come soon enough, this is a video from Chinese defense contractor Kestrel Defence featuring its Blood-Wing/Red Wing drone deploying a robotic war dog armed with a machine gun. So, if you were wondering what the beginning of the end looks like, this is definitely it.
This is a video of Cassie, a pair of robotic legs inspired by those of an ostrich, setting the world record for fastest 100m run by a two-legged robot. Cassie finishes with a time of 24.73-seconds. For reference, the current world record for a human is Usain Bolt’s 9.58 seconds