And otherwise terrifies us
By Clay Dillow Posted 04.12.2012 at 1:49 pm 9 Comments

It's PETMAN And he's headed straight for us!

If you fear the robot apocalypse, perhaps your day would be much improved if you just moved on. Boston Dynamics’ PETMAN robot, developed for DARPA, is getting more humanoid-like by the day it seems, and here we see it--legs, torso, arms, and all--negotiating staircases, running on a treadmill, and even hitting the floor for some pushups. All this strength training appears to be doing PETMAN some good.

A modified version of this platform will be used as the government-funded equipment for the tracks of DARPA’s Robotics Challenge that only require teams to develop a software component. In other words if you can write a good piece of software for this high-stepping humanoid, DARPA might just let you try it out.

9 Comments

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drchuck1
04/12/12 at 3:24 pm

this thing always creeps me out, no head and all, but i still love it, one coming your way soon, cheers

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Newbeak5
04/12/12 at 3:32 pm

First thing that comes to mind is the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Series 800 Terminator!

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Cookiees453
04/12/12 at 4:00 pm

I'm eagerly awaiting an "IRobot"

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Heavyhand
04/12/12 at 4:47 pm

Ha, I love how the arms almost look like little gatling guns. Foreshadowing?

Now if you share my sense of humor and want a laugh, get the bee gees song "staying alive" in your head and put the video on 1:46 ....

"Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
since I was born.
And now it's all right. It's OK.
And you may look the other way."

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Infinion
04/12/12 at 4:58 pm

oh god this remind me of QWOP for some reason

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cholin3947
04/13/12 at 7:29 am

They need to teach this thing to say "Roger Roger!"

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Robot
04/13/12 at 8:58 am

It is becoming human in many ways.
As this robot walks up the stairs, it uses it's arms to push in the wall to steady itself.
I often have done the same thing, when I have to many drinks under my electronic belt, hick..!

I LIKE THIS ROBOT! ITS COOL!

.............................
Science sees no further than what it can sense, i.e. facts.
Religion sees beyond the senses, i.e. faith.
Open your mind and see!

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BoronMoron
04/13/12 at 4:49 pm

@heavyhand- realistically gatling guns are heavy, need lots of ammunition, and have a lot of recoil when freestanding. Its just not practical for long wartime missions, especially if it needs 'sleep'

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poeblob
04/17/12 at 1:12 pm

Heavyhand- I played that song while watching this. Freakin' hilarious. But anyway, this humanoid is really creepy and I'm not sure I'd like to see one walking down the street.

"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein



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