ICYMI: Trusting robots too much, automated garbage and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: The Georgia Tech Research Institute studied how people would react to a robot with clearly labeled 'emergency guide' signage, during a fire drill. Researchers thought humans would ignore the robots and go straight fo...

ICYMI: Laser-powered spacecraft, upgraded Atlas bot and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: A professor from California is working on a plan to use photonic propulsion to get a spacecraft to Mars within 72 hours. It would use get the craft off of earth with the power generated by photons leaving a laser.

NYT: Alphabet’s reorganized ‘X’ division now includes robots

Last year Google shipped off some of its wilder projects for administration under new parent company Alphabet, which included its efforts with robots and the lab formerly known as Google X. A New York Times report says that the latter, now just known...

DARPA’s Atlas robot will be taught to save you if the sky falls (video)

DARPA's Atlas robot doesn't care if the sky falls, will be taught to save you if it does

DARPA and Boston Dynamics seem bent on engineering the robot revolution, and it's while wearing a suspicious smile that they introduce us to Atlas, their latest humanoid creation. Inorganically evolved from Petman and an intermediate prototype, Atlas will compete in DARPA's Robotics Challenge (DRC) Trials in December, where it will be challenged with "tasks similar to what might be required in a disaster response scenario." The seven teams that made it through the Virtual Robotics Challenge stage, held in a simulated environment, will massage their code into the real 6' 2" robot, which sports a host of sensors and 28 "hydraulically actuated joints." Also competing for a spot in the 2014 DRC finals are six "Track A" teams, including a couple of crews from NASA, which've built their own monstrous spawn. Head past the break for Atlas' video debut, as well as an introduction to the Track A teams and their contributions to Judgement Day.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: DARPA