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Boston Dynamics' Petman robot successfully wears clothes

40 points by arasmussen 14y ago

gamblor956 14y ago
It's only a matter of time now before robot nudity is a registerable sex offense... Unfortunately, the announcement isn't that the robot has the dexterity to put on the clothes itself, but rather that its sensors and other functionality work through clothes, i.e., a hazmat suit.
- azoth_ 14y ago
  Petman isn't doing any kind of active sensing (vision, radar/lidar, etc) in these videos. The clothing has nothing to obstruct other than movement, but it looks baggy enough such that it doesn't do this either.
- krapp 14y ago
  It's only a matter of time now before robot nudity is a registerable sex offense... Or a selling point....
- bradleyland 14y ago
  I'm not sure if you're being cynical or sarcastic: "...thanks to some DoD funding, it's using the robot to test suits like this in hazardous conditions, with an array of sensors on the robot itself able to detect chemicals leaking through the suit." There's a clear purpose here. Humanoid robot testing of garments intended for hazardous duty. I doubt anyone at Boston Dynamics or the DoD are sitting around pondering how they're going to cloth the obscene masses of robot humanoids they plan to produce.
dhughes 14y ago
Is it completely free to walk on its own or do the cables assist with balance?
- WestCoastJustin 14y ago
  There is a video [1] of it walking on its own. I suspect they have the cables because it was leaning over, twisting, squatting, etc and they probably want to assist with balance. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E
  - bradleyland 14y ago
    They're probably fall-dampening cables with very light tension. These types of cables are like rate limiters for falling objects. It would prevent it from slamming down on the floor if balance was lost, but the tension is very light; just enough to take up slack. Because they're positioned only to the sides and the rear, their greatest effect would actually be to make balance more difficult for a bipedal robot.
    - epsylon 14y ago
      I'm pretty sure they are used to deliver power as well.
      - bradleyland 14y ago
        The cables at the top are all for fall protection. The tether (power and control) goes through its ankle or hip area, depending on the video. The one video where you see multiple strands hanging down directly from the top are connected to a block and tackle pulley system. If you watch the one shot from behind you can see the hoist hook in the center of its shoulders up high. You can also see the tether at the hip area in the same shot.
  - bmj 14y ago
    In a couple of those sequences, it looks like the robot is shod with rock climbing shoes.
lowboy 14y ago
As someone who works from home, I get a similar response when I'm out of my bathrobe+pjs.
rickmode 14y ago
The cables definitely look like training wheels. Even a very slight bit of tension could assist with balance. Of course that assumes the robot has some sort of kinesthetic sense.
- bones6 14y ago
  I'd assume it's probably easier to iterate and test without worrying if your ridiculously expensive robot is going to fall on it's face. Even something small like friction with the clothes or binding of cloth in a servo/joint could cause it to fall, I suppose. I'm sure they wanted their proof of concept out just to be the first robot with clothes, but just didn't want to risk damage.
- chiph 14y ago
  The early versions of BigDog had support cables to protect it in case it fell as well. Eventually the stabilization hardware + software got good enough to where they weren't needed any more.
- saulrh 14y ago
  The cables are there to prevent the robot from damaging stuff during testing. If a human falls, it catches itself, or at worst breaks a wrist and spends a couple weeks healing. Unrestrained robots have far more spectacular failure modes; a falling humanoid typically lands on an outstretched limb and breaks it right in half, setting the project back months and costing huge amounts of money. Or it goes nuts but doesn't fall over immediately, instead flailing around on a short rampage that ends with the robot broken and everything nearby having been whacked by the limbed equivalent of a runaway golf cart. Source: been there, done that, don't tell OSHA. :P
- iandanforth 14y ago
  These guys are legit. You put those on there because the robot is worth millions. And yes, it has a sense of balance and very very fast reflexes.
anigbrowl 14y ago
Between this and their Big Dog project hurling concrete blocks around, I feel mildly worried... http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-blocks/ http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-blocks...
- SoftwareMaven 14y ago
  Don't worry, Anonymous will hack them and keep us safe. Certainly, the power divide between the government and people (inside or outside of its borders) continues to grow. The scary thing to me (in a distopian future) is that robots won't hesitate to do as they are programed. Soldiers sent in to "subdue" their own population might at least think twice.
savrajsingh 14y ago
Isn't it odd that they keep claiming the robot is being created to "test combat clothing for soldiers"?
jiggy2011 14y ago
Great, now I'm going to have nightmares for weeks.
kaonashi 14y ago
Pick up that can.
ChuckMcM 14y ago
It has been interesting to watch Dr. Raibert's ideas grow. A long time ago there was an interesting debate going on between subsumption architecture that Dr. Brooks was pushing and Dr. Raiberts work (both at MIT). As a robot guy I've been fascinated by both of them, but Raibert's work was hampered by the fact that his creations were only stable when constantly moving and Brook's creations were always stable. The argument went that dynamic stability was so energy inefficient it would not be a good fit for doing locomotion. The advantage of dynamic stability is of course that your robot is constantly in danger of falling down, that is its natural state, so trying to knock it over doesn't really change what its doing a whole lot. I did not think I would see dynamic stability in a humanoid shape though (power off condition is laying horizontal :-). Watching it is pretty unnerving. I'm impressed they have it working.

40 points by arasmussen 14y ago

It's only a matter of time now before robot nudity is a registerable sex offense... Unfortunately, the announcement isn't that the robot has the dexterity to put on the clothes itself, but rather that its sensors and other functionality work through clothes, i.e., a hazmat suit.

azoth_ 14y ago
Petman isn't doing any kind of active sensing (vision, radar/lidar, etc) in these videos. The clothing has nothing to obstruct other than movement, but it looks baggy enough such that it doesn't do this either.
krapp 14y ago
It's only a matter of time now before robot nudity is a registerable sex offense... Or a selling point....
bradleyland 14y ago
I'm not sure if you're being cynical or sarcastic: "...thanks to some DoD funding, it's using the robot to test suits like this in hazardous conditions, with an array of sensors on the robot itself able to detect chemicals leaking through the suit." There's a clear purpose here. Humanoid robot testing of garments intended for hazardous duty. I doubt anyone at Boston Dynamics or the DoD are sitting around pondering how they're going to cloth the obscene masses of robot humanoids they plan to produce.

dhughes 14y ago

Is it completely free to walk on its own or do the cables assist with balance?

WestCoastJustin 14y ago
There is a video [1] of it walking on its own. I suspect they have the cables because it was leaning over, twisting, squatting, etc and they probably want to assist with balance. [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mclbVTIYG8E
- bradleyland 14y ago
  They're probably fall-dampening cables with very light tension. These types of cables are like rate limiters for falling objects. It would prevent it from slamming down on the floor if balance was lost, but the tension is very light; just enough to take up slack. Because they're positioned only to the sides and the rear, their greatest effect would actually be to make balance more difficult for a bipedal robot.
  - epsylon 14y ago
    I'm pretty sure they are used to deliver power as well.
    - bradleyland 14y ago
      The cables at the top are all for fall protection. The tether (power and control) goes through its ankle or hip area, depending on the video. The one video where you see multiple strands hanging down directly from the top are connected to a block and tackle pulley system. If you watch the one shot from behind you can see the hoist hook in the center of its shoulders up high. You can also see the tether at the hip area in the same shot.
- bmj 14y ago
  In a couple of those sequences, it looks like the robot is shod with rock climbing shoes.

lowboy 14y ago

As someone who works from home, I get a similar response when I'm out of my bathrobe+pjs.

rickmode 14y ago

The cables definitely look like training wheels. Even a very slight bit of tension could assist with balance. Of course that assumes the robot has some sort of kinesthetic sense.

bones6 14y ago
I'd assume it's probably easier to iterate and test without worrying if your ridiculously expensive robot is going to fall on it's face. Even something small like friction with the clothes or binding of cloth in a servo/joint could cause it to fall, I suppose. I'm sure they wanted their proof of concept out just to be the first robot with clothes, but just didn't want to risk damage.
chiph 14y ago
The early versions of BigDog had support cables to protect it in case it fell as well. Eventually the stabilization hardware + software got good enough to where they weren't needed any more.
saulrh 14y ago
The cables are there to prevent the robot from damaging stuff during testing. If a human falls, it catches itself, or at worst breaks a wrist and spends a couple weeks healing. Unrestrained robots have far more spectacular failure modes; a falling humanoid typically lands on an outstretched limb and breaks it right in half, setting the project back months and costing huge amounts of money. Or it goes nuts but doesn't fall over immediately, instead flailing around on a short rampage that ends with the robot broken and everything nearby having been whacked by the limbed equivalent of a runaway golf cart. Source: been there, done that, don't tell OSHA. :P
iandanforth 14y ago
These guys are legit. You put those on there because the robot is worth millions. And yes, it has a sense of balance and very very fast reflexes.

anigbrowl 14y ago

Between this and their Big Dog project hurling concrete blocks around, I feel mildly worried... http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-blocks/ http://hackaday.com/2013/03/29/bigdog-throwing-cinder-blocks...

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Don't worry, Anonymous will hack them and keep us safe. Certainly, the power divide between the government and people (inside or outside of its borders) continues to grow. The scary thing to me (in a distopian future) is that robots won't hesitate to do as they are programed. Soldiers sent in to "subdue" their own population might at least think twice.

savrajsingh 14y ago

Isn't it odd that they keep claiming the robot is being created to "test combat clothing for soldiers"?

jiggy2011 14y ago

Great, now I'm going to have nightmares for weeks.

kaonashi 14y ago

Pick up that can.

ChuckMcM 14y ago

It has been interesting to watch Dr. Raibert's ideas grow. A long time ago there was an interesting debate going on between subsumption architecture that Dr. Brooks was pushing and Dr. Raiberts work (both at MIT). As a robot guy I've been fascinated by both of them, but Raibert's work was hampered by the fact that his creations were only stable when constantly moving and Brook's creations were always stable. The argument went that dynamic stability was so energy inefficient it would not be a good fit for doing locomotion. The advantage of dynamic stability is of course that your robot is constantly in danger of falling down, that is its natural state, so trying to knock it over doesn't really change what its doing a whole lot. I did not think I would see dynamic stability in a humanoid shape though (power off condition is laying horizontal :-). Watching it is pretty unnerving. I'm impressed they have it working.