5 ms·

I've been exposed to the robotics academic world in depth. Even academics I know are growing tired of the academic mode of work. There is a persistent and growi

I've been exposed to the robotics academic world in depth. Even academics I know are growing tired of the academic mode of work. There is a persistent and growing respect for making real and complete systems. This it often antithetical to the unit of academic progress: published results. A great test for whether you have a real system is whether you can sell it. That's why iRobot is so awesome. They make robots that people actually use. Make something people want :)

pg 18y ago
Trevor's a case in point. As far as I can tell, he's ahead of pretty much everyone on walking algorithms.
- ivankirigin 18y ago
  He is definitely very far advanced, but academics still make very good walking robots. http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/actuator/ http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/actuator/ http://www.rhex.net/ http://www.rhex.net/ Some other efforts that come to mind help illustrate the territory. Honda made a horribly unscalable walking mechanism in the ASIMO. It will never be more than PR. The best work from CMU & MIT's Leg Lab got spun out into Boston Dynamics. You've probably seen their "big dog" video. http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog Boston Dynamics is part boutique research firm and part startup. They'll probably be the first to sell a walking robot. Honda makes a clunker, and the hungry, small companies make something that will actually work.
  - dbrush 18y ago
    I read a recent Popular Science article where it says Trevor helped with the unicycle motorcycle. This article here is essentially what it said in the Popular Science article; so it seems Trevor is quite the go-to guy when it comes to these types of things. http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/articles/the-uno/ http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/articles/the-uno/ * Not disagreeing, just supplementing

pg 18y ago

Trevor's a case in point. As far as I can tell, he's ahead of pretty much everyone on walking algorithms.

ivankirigin 18y ago
He is definitely very far advanced, but academics still make very good walking robots. http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/actuator/ http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/actuator/ http://www.rhex.net/ http://www.rhex.net/ Some other efforts that come to mind help illustrate the territory. Honda made a horribly unscalable walking mechanism in the ASIMO. It will never be more than PR. The best work from CMU & MIT's Leg Lab got spun out into Boston Dynamics. You've probably seen their "big dog" video. http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog Boston Dynamics is part boutique research firm and part startup. They'll probably be the first to sell a walking robot. Honda makes a clunker, and the hungry, small companies make something that will actually work.
- dbrush 18y ago
  I read a recent Popular Science article where it says Trevor helped with the unicycle motorcycle. This article here is essentially what it said in the Popular Science article; so it seems Trevor is quite the go-to guy when it comes to these types of things. http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/articles/the-uno/ http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/articles/the-uno/ * Not disagreeing, just supplementing