Now They Can Open Doors!!!

Boston Dynamics has made yet another step forward by producing a version of SpotMini that can open doors. Some people have described the robotic innovations of Boston Dynamics as scary, and some have even asked them to stop making robots. The company has not responded, but that is unlikely to happen, and they are not the only company out there making robots that can do amazing things.

The advances Boston Dynamics have made in the last few years are impressive, the ones shown below just being a small sample of their achievements.

Handle

Handle is a robot that combines the capability of legs with the efficiency of wheels. It uses many of the same principle as the biped robots Boston Dynamics build but only has 10 actuated joints, making it a lot less complex. Fast and efficient when using its wheels and able to go almost anywhere when using its legs, Handle has the best of both worlds.

Atlas

Atlas is a humanoid robot that can coordinate the motions of his arms and legs to achieve whole body manipulation. The high strength to weight ratio, stereo vision, range sensing and other senses make it possible for Atlas to manipulate objects and travel over rough terrain, even managing to walk in snow. Even being jostled or pushed over is not a problem as Atlas keeps its balance and gets up again if it needs to. The robot can jump from box to box, turn 180 degrees while in the air and do a back flip.

Sandflea

Sandflea is a small robot with 4 wheels and weighing just 11 pounds. It moves along the ground like a remote controlled car but also has a mighty jumping leg that enables it to leap 10m into the air, over obstacles. That means it can jump onto the roof of a house, over a wall or up a set of steps. Its gyros keep it level during flight and it’s on board camera ensure a smooth landing.

RHex

RHex

Six legs give RHex remarkable mobility over rough terrain, and as each leg is independently controlled they produce specialised gaits that mean it needs minimal input from an operator. Rocks, fields, mud, sand, vegetation, railroad tracks, telephone poles or stairways are not a problem for RHex. Even changing weather conditions will not stop this robot. It can leap across ditches up to 30cm wide and flip itself over to recover nominal body orientation. Independent government institutions have verified its remarkable terrain capabilities.

WildCat

Able to run at 32kmh while manoeuvring and maintaining its balance, WildCat is said to be the fastest robot on earth. It uses a variety of gaits, trots, bounds and gallops to maintain its balance at this speed over fairly flat terrain. The only one to run any faster was its predecessor Cheetah, but this could only run indoors on a treadmill with no wind load and had to be tethered to its power source. WildCat can recover from stumbles and falls with ease and navigate corners without a problem.