Robot shows off juggling skills

I thought this was cool and went ahead and posted it. I did a search and didn't find anything.

Link

THIS robot wouldn't look out of place under a big top as it makes juggling look trap-easy.
The machine clowns around throwing and catching three, and even FIVE, balls at a time.
High-speed cameras track the billiard balls as the bot uses it servo motors to throw them through the air in perfect time.

You'll have to go to the link to see the videos. I thought it was amazing.

Now if they could stop wasting time on trivial things like juggling and get cracking on that lifelike sexbot!

Not impressed, how much did that thing cost I wonder?
it is totally a mechanical device, no adjustment other than programmed response.
I could have seen juggling for free.
Now like SirMike said, If they would have put all of that cash into something useful would have been nice.
Maybe leg enhancements for crippled children, or even arms.
Not nearly as fascinating as a log splitter, or my KitchenAid mixer.
Just my angle is all.

I think if one had full understanding of what it means for a robot to be able to juggle, one would be considerably more impressed.

We have known for years that robots are supreme when it comes to feats of power, endurance, and reliability in the work place. Car plants have had precision engineer robots for many years now. But those robots are designed to do extremely heavy workloads, often with very strong materials , and within (in engineering terms) fairly standard degrees of tolerance.

However, as anyone who has ever learned, or tried to learn to juggle will attest, the art is not about enormous strength, but rather about the PERFECT application of force required to time the rise and fall of many objects simultaneously. The degrees by which a juggler can vary a given throw or catch are very small, and the application of force to the balls or other objects he is juggling has to be very precise, as does the timing.

We have seen robots that walk, robots that talk, robots that can speak a sermon, or conduct a marriage. We have seen robots that can build cars and components, and robots that can vacuum your house, but this is one of the few examples of outrageous dexterity and spatial awareness in an automaton that I have yet seen. When compared with the halting , staggered gait of most walking robots, and the powerful untiring work of the industrial robot, this is surely a master stroke of fine edge engineering.

In proving that this precision is possible, this machine will open up a route by which android pattern robots, i.e. anthropomorphised robots or artificial persons or intelligences, might attain the fluidity of movement and spatial awareness that we organics currently enjoy. Of course , wether or not this will turn out as being a good thing or not, who knows? But this machine certainly proves that machines are getting smoother, smarter, and more fluid and rapid in thier motions.

Originally posted by SirMike
Now if they could stop wasting time on trivial things like juggling and get cracking on that lifelike sexbot!

Hey, just go to Japan, they have a robot to collect semen hands free.




www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by FortAnthem


Ewwww.

reply to post by FortAnthem


HAHAH! I can see it all now. You go to the hospital to get a check up, they ask you for a sample. Little robot rolls in...Half an hour later ..." Awe, R2 I never knew you cared! " LOL!

In all seriousness though, I would like for everyone to consider the variety of applications that robotic constructs currently have. Im sure if we were to compile a list, or find a comprehensive one on the net, that it would prove that robots are becoming more and more capable as time passes, and that robotic technology is being installed in more and more positions in global society.

Imagine what it would be like, if robotics goes the way of the mobile phone. Over the last few years the humble mobile communications device, has become augmented with apps and functions that a simple phone of ten years ago would never have had. They now play music, go on the internet, and even the crappiest of them can connect to radio stations these days. You can use them as calculators, they have torches in them, and they can be used to augment your reality with interesting data about the environment you find yourself in. You can navigate the globe from the palm of your hand these days.

Imagine therefore, if every robot were multi functional, capable of self mobilisation, possessed of a spatial awareness equal to , or greater than our own, and capable of various feats of strength, precision, and timing. So far, it seems to me that most robots thus far, have only been multi functional within a specified range, for instance, bomb disposal robots. They are capable of a large number of functions, but all of those fall solidly in the range of those aimed at identifying and removing an explosive threat. They cannot , for example, make a cup of tea, climb stairs at a pace, or keep up with thier flesh counterparts, unless expressly designed to do so.

What if , like the mobile phone, minimum acceptable levels of advancement were to emerge in the robotics feild. Soon even lowly semen collectors will be capable of saving a life , carrying de fib gear and a CPR appendage as standard, as well as the kit required for its specific task. But more than that, they would be fully articulated , capable of extreme feats of what , to a flesh and blood man, would seem like heroism , and action, in order to save lives. Charging through a wall in a burning building to rescue an otherwise doomed casualty, before single handedly resuscitating the person and performing all non invasive treatment before an ambulance even shows up.

Roombas will also carry carpet cleaner and stain removers , as well as being capable of ionising all your home fabrics to be stain and liquid resistant. They will also be capable of updating you with a list of new cleaning products, and come with a voice activated "order now" feature linked to the product catalouges being updated daily . They will also be capable of not just hoovering and cleaning your carpets, but capable of moving the furniture out of the way while they do it, and cleaning surfaces and fabrics that are higher than floor level, in fact, every surface in your whole home will be accessible to the Roomba of tomorrow.

Robots as they stand now, are individualy limited, and have not changed enough to make them impress in the last thirty odd years. However, times are a changing, and hopefully , so is robotics. I hope to see multi functional, forward thinking designs in the future, and steps like this jugglebot are ones in the right direction I think.