The robotic revolt seen in films like Terminator moves quickly towards reality (which then does not occur much better, but the premises may be all there.)
Toyota debuted Thursday with its new advanced humanoid robot, the T-HR3, remotely controlled by an operator with a headset and a wired connection. Toyota says that in the future these mobile robots, lighter and easier to use than previous models, could be used “to perform surgery in a distant place where a doctor cannot travel. They could also allow people to attend events they cannot physically attend, ”he says the Associated Press .
Also on Thursday is the announcement that Swiss researchers have developed a light and fast robotic insect called DEAnsect, which can withstand several hits from a fly swatter and can survive if stepped on by a shoe. The insect, which weighs less than one gram, can carry five times its weight, recognize black and white patterns and follow lines drawn on the ground.
"This technique opens up new possibilities for swarms of intelligent robotic insects, for remote inspections or repairs, or even to gain a deeper understanding of insect colonies by sending mobile robots to live with each other"said Herbert Shea, a member of the research team with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.
In case the swarms of robot bugs weren't scary enough in themselves, Shea added that they'll be able to communicate with each other. "In the longer term, we plan to adapt new sensors and emitters to insects so that they can communicate directly with each other."
And they are just two of the latest creations in this fascinating and slightly scary field! Here are others with rather eloquent intelligence and appearance.
The Bot Dog who can open the doors
This creepy quadruped like robot killer dogs from "Black Mirror" was developed by Boston Dynamics. It is a private company bought by Alphabet, Google's “mom” company, and then sold to the WeWork group's SoftBank group in 2017.
Spot, its name, was initially used for research, but Boston Dynamics announced in September that it will begin selling these mobile robots to "first, select customers." Spot can run, unlock and open doors, stand up, operate in a variety of difficult weather and terrain conditions, and even dance.
Atlas: the parkour robot
This humanoid robot is also courtesy of Boston Dynamics. Atlas can run, jump, backflip and perform parkour stunts. I told you about it in this post.
"The control software uses the entire body, including legs, arms and torso, to set in motion the energy and strength to jump onto the trunk and jump steps without breaking the rhythm," reads on the company's Youtube account.
Some argue that Atlas could be useful in wars, and is reminiscent of the first robots featured in "The Terminator".
Here is his latest feat:
'RiSE': mobile wall-climbing robots.
Boston Dynamics, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, UC Berkeley and Lewis & Clark University have collaborated on the construction of this "climbing robot" that looks like a large scorpion and has no problem crawling on trees, poles, facades and bricks.
The WildCat
This robot is about the size of a pony "Quadruped developed to run fast on all types of terrain", according to the company's YouTube account. The WildCat, so far, "He gallops at about 30km per hour on rough terrain", according to the company. An older, smaller version, called The Cheetah, reached speeds of nearly 50km per hour. Almost a leopard.
GhostSwimmer drone
Developed by the US Navy and Boston Engineering, this underwater drone is the size of a tuna but looks like a shark. Second Wired “These mobile robots can operate in waters from 25 centimeters to 90 meters. They can be controlled remotely with a 150 meter cable or swim independently. "
