Disney seeks new patent for soft robots playing characters | Hacker News Reader

Disney seeks new patent for soft robots playing characters

orlandosentinel.com

63 pointsspking31 comments

So much patent fraud by huge companies - patenting the unpatentable for the false front; none of it prosecuted, because big companies are teflon.

This is computer/software-plus-X, the very thing the unanimous Supreme Court Alice decision ruled invalid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Corp._v._CLS_Bank_Intern...

You're kidding, right? This patent has to do with the design of a robot. That's very much hardware.

But the hardware is wrapped in a plush fabric costume, so technically it's a soft wear patent.

Hopefully the debugging functionality has low toxicity.

i was in a bad mood but now i'm not anymore

"The new application describes pliable chambers making up the body of the robot, filled with fluid or air. The robot would be able to sense pressure on each chamber and adjust the amount of air or water, to respond to a child’s hug, or to an accidental collision."

This sort of mechanic isn't novel to my mind, pressure sensors aren't, it's all prior art and ordinary mechanic stuff except tossing in the computer/software. If you think it's a breakthrough, then my point fails, of course.

The problem with software patents isn't mixing software and hardware. That's actually a case where patents are reasonable. The problem with software patents is taking an existing process and patenting "do X, but on a computer". The patent as described here doesn't work like that, because what it's doing isn't something that you could previously do without a computer.

Actuating limbs 'n stuff did happen without computers, and with them, long ago. Inflating air chambers doesn't require a computer, it's just an obvious application for them. Emphasis on obvious.

If that can delay the adoption of humanoids until the patents time out, the people who hold replaceable jobs will be happy for a few short years.

Prior art already exists in the form of inflatable robots from Otherlab / Pneubotics:

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2014/11/12/big-hero-6-soft-inflat...

I haven't read the patent or specific claims; I'm just pointing out that inflatable robots and inflatable characters already exist that perform some of the functions mentioned in this article.

And here is another soft robot performs no function at all except to sweat when it senses contact with its skin. Imagine a theme park full of these guys... http://paulagaetanoadi.com/works/alexitimia/

* sigh * another nightmare site that pops a nearly page-covering advertising overlay that, when dismissed, ignores the fact that the visitor has expressed a choice and continues to auto-play multiple video and audio streams.

New rule -- sites that pop overlays while auto-playing multiple video and audio streams, lose the right to complain about ad blockers.

I've actually started adding sites like this directly to my hosts files, no/few questions asked, just so I don't accidentally go there in the future.

You could submit such finds to one of the aggregators of hosts-file contents, so others could benefit. Just saying.

Someone should scrape all the links submitted to HN for Ads and overlays and autoplaying videos, rate the severity and provide the result via an API so that I can use a greasemonkey script to filter those pages from HN.

How about just installing noscript/umatrix?

Anyone browsing without an ad blocker should probably lose the right to complain about ads too :)

Yeah, that page makes a great test suite for defensive-browsing software and extensions. Flashblock and KillSticky were able to parry its opening salvos, but it still managed to sneak in some auto-playing audio.

HTML5 is really no better than Flash, it's just harder to block. We've been sold quite the bill of goods.

Actual patent documentation can be seen at [1].

Based on the names on the patent, the work came out of Disney Research Pittsburgh, which does awesome research.

[1]: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=H...

Thanks. The number of ads littered throughout the parent is absolutely profane.

>> 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the robot is a humanoid robot and the link comprises a forearm link, an upper arm link, a torso link, a back link, or a chest link.

So a strictly biped robot designed for safe human interaction? Is that what it means for something to be described as humanoid? Not sure when I read lines like these:

>> [0003] The present description relates, in general, to design and control of robots including humanoid robots and other robots adapted for interaction with humans.

>> [0071] Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter claimed.

Here's some possible prior art:

Henry Minsky has a look of trepidation at the idea of sacrificing his Dakin Bear to one of his dad's robotics experiments. — with Dakin Bear at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [frame grab from the skeletal robot's video camera]

http://imgur.com/gallery/Rt43H

Disney has been trying to get mobile character robots working for years. They had Danny Hillis, from Thinking Machines Corp, for a while, and they got Lucky the Dinosaur[1] out of that. But Lucky was not really balancing; the stability comes from the cart the creature seems to be pulling.

It's not that it can't be done; it's making it completely idiot proof that's hard.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBLwyxqx4mk

On the other hand they have the Muppet Mobile Lab roaming Epcot. It's on a Segway style balancing system. I'd settle for more things like that.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=korGn9HowJM

Once I saw a robot that pretended to be a pirate.

Matter of fact, I think I saw it at Disneyland...

Reminds me of a night time security guard job I had a while back...

For the uninitiated:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Nights_at_Freddy%27s

The numbering system oddly sounds like the Terminator 300, 1000

For their animatronic robots, their numbering system has historically referred to the number of uniquely articulated motors/servos of a particular model.

So, Disney parks will one day be filled with creepy Westwood style robots?

Westyland the movie

So... the animatronic Chuck E. Cheese band?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com