Robot To Hitchhike Across Canada Alone

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Japanese robots can walk circles around the rest.

I like the military robots from Boston Dynamics.. They have a couple of humanoid robots now as well..

If they could just solve the power problem so they didn't have to have those loud motors... But when you are lugging hundreds of pounds not much you can do.. The stability when it almost falls on the ice is amazing.

Edited June 17, 2014 by OnMyWayID

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

The un-boxing of the new Atlas robot... The best un-boxing evar!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFKVSLNyADk

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I like the military robots from Boston Dynamics.. They have a couple of humanoid robots now as well..

If they could just solve the power problem so they didn't have to have those loud motors... But when you are lugging hundreds of pounds not much you can do.. The stability when it almost falls on the ice is amazing.

That one is creepy! The stuff of nightmares, that.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I like the military robots from Boston Dynamics.. They have a couple of humanoid robots now as well..

If they could just solve the power problem so they didn't have to have those loud motors... But when you are lugging hundreds of pounds not much you can do.. The stability when it almost falls on the ice is amazing.

Not aesthetically pleasing!

[Jacque67 7,328]

This is much more like it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/27/kirobo-robot-video_n_3508277.html

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Not aesthetically pleasing!

Good thing they don't have the feelings installed yet, that comment could cause a buffer underflow in the self esteem register.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I want this old model!

http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CBcQtwIwBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3z_gcxG2Z0o%26autoplay%3D1&ei=SVygU7PLINH-8QW3qIKgBw&usg=AFQjCNG7cHt3M_EXKQo7lMvlLLxR8TXPYA&sig2=RhPyM6ncE8LM3xWuoXsTtA

[Jacque67 7,328]

Oh and good old Asimo and Obama.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IL-25q_ZYIQ

[Operator 1,927]

Good thing they don't have the feelings installed yet, that comment could cause a buffer underflow in the self esteem register.

Every time I see this video I feel bad when the guy keeps taking the boot to it. I'll go home and hug my dog to make me feel better.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Here is an actual picture of the hitchhiking robot:

Looks like someone taped some appendages on an iPhone

[Robby999 1,024]

Trans-Canadian Journey Log: Day # 3

Accepted ride from a young Canadian teenager driving an elevated 4-wheel drive pickup, no cigarette lighter available in vehicle to recharge my batteries, but human vehicle interface unit offered to deliver me to a location that would arrange transportation to my final destination! Will update log again when possible.

[Peikko 1,575]

http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/robot-to-hitchhike-across-canada-alone-140616.htm

Starting next month, a robot named hitchBOT will attempt to hitchhike across Canada. Using speech recognition, speech processing, and social media, it will try to charm its way from one coast to the other.

Its journey will commence on July 27th, 2014 at the Institute for Applied Creativity at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). From there it will venture across Canada until it — hopefully — reaches Vancouver, British Columbia. That's a distance of 6,158 km (3,826 miles). Of course, that assumes a fairly direct route; depending on who pick it up, hitchBOT could go on a rather wild journey.

"Usually, we are concerned whether we can trust robots… but this project takes it the other way around and asks: can robots trust human beings?" noted Ryerson University's Frauke Zeller in a recent press release. "We expect hitchBOT to be charming and trustworthy enough in its conversation to secure rides through Canada." Zeller and his colleagues say it's part science experiment, part art project.

Other than its one hitchhiking arm, the device won't be capable of moving on its own. It will be completely dependent on others to move and transport it. Developer Harris Smith from McMaster University says it will look "like somebody has cobbled together odds and ends to make the robot, such as pool noodles, bucket, cake saver, garden gloves, Wellies, and so forth."

But hitchBOT won't be completely helpless. In addition to having speech recognition and processing capabilities, it will be able to pull information from a Wikipedia API to help it converse with people. And through 3G and wifi connectivity, hitchBOT will know its exact location and plan its journey.

The bot will also be somewhat self-preservational; hitchBOT will ask drivers to plug it into their car's cigarette lighter to charge its battery.

That's cool, I think most people are honest and will do what is being asked. I expect that's part of the 'experiment' from reading between the lines