"Roadrunner": a bipedal, wheeled robot for multi-modal locomotion [video] | Hacker News Reader

"Roadrunner": a bipedal, wheeled robot for multi-modal locomotion [video]

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78 pointssurprisetalk40 comments

I realized how much I was anthropomorphizing the thing when it reversed its knees and I winced.

I wonder whether the extra weight of a third, retractable/foldable leg would negate the power savings that could accrue from being able to switch to 3-wheeled mode when appropriate (thereby allowing the gyro to be spun down).

By gyro do you mean flywheel? Is there one in this robot?

There does not appear to be one in this robot, from what I am able to read about it. I think sometimes people assume there must be something like that to help balance.

This generalizes fixed 2-wheel dynamic balancers which mostly don’t have flywheels for stability either, the focus is on the dynamics of keeping the wheels under the center of gravity, or a bit offset when moving.

The novelty here is about switching between dynamic control policies while keeping them simple.

Really cool. But when will we actually start to see any robotics products out there in real life? Walking robots have been a thing for what 50 years now? And they are still nowhere to be seen beside techdemos. Boston Dynamics' Bigdog is 20 years ago, and beside those semi-useless dog drones from china, we are nowhere close to general service walking robots in our lives. I'm getting impatient.

What are the advantages to this compared to something more stable like 3 or 4 wheels that can’t just fall over?

Ability to walk up stairs?

Close enough to a humanoid then you can move to places that humans can move to / around.

The single-track mode where the wheels are in line like a bike seems useful for navigating floors strewn with obstacles.

I could ask you the same question.

I don't have wheels.

Lighter, smaller, cheaper, greater efficiency, improved agility.

In a word: wow. That demo just kept getting better and better.

Scale this up a bit and I could see it working as an urban courier.

Cool format.

I'm pretty sure they are. RAI have an office in Zurich, Switzerland. And I've seen these Just Eats wheeled robots driving around near their offices, delivering stuff. I would guess they are responsible for it.

Cool! Does anyone have a list of challenges that must be tackled before such humanoid robots become usable for tasks such as household chores, cooking etc?

I’m sorry Dave, the best we can do with this robot is to make it capable of doing your job so you can focus on doing your chores and cooking.

What about the ability to do household chores and cook? You saw a video of a robot that can climb a single staircase in a test environment. We've had machines that climb stairs for a few decades now.

If you want a robot to do household chores, you get a dishwasher, autonomous lawnmower and a washing machine.

The dishwasher and the washing machine don't auto fill.

Scaling issues as family grows. Ex: sorting socks.

IIUC dexterity is gonna be the bottleneck.

There was actually a post on here a few months back where someone claiming robotics expertise posted exactly what you asked for: a list of things they didn't think robots were close to being able to do.

IIRC the list included folding textiles, and soon after a video was released of a robot folding textiles, but it was very janky, it's not clear to me if it proved the original article wrong or was more of an "exception that proves the rule".

Personally I have my washing machine in the basement, you need a key to access it (and I can't modify it, it's a shared space in a building I don't own). I'm always thinking about that. A robot that can do my laundry and open locked doors doesn't seem to be on the horizon yet.

Hate to say it, but I suspect people who can't afford their own laundry might be well down the list of potential customers in all this.

But people who own the shared spaces might be high on the list.

The poorer will get robotics as a condiment. Like WiFi.

Trust me, plenty of millionaires are doing their laundry in a shared Waschküche in Zürich!

Current Chinese dev bots cost like $15k. Vapourware startups are claiming they'll ship their humanoid robot product at $20k. I'd pay that in a heartbeat for robot that could actually do my laundry.

(But more impactfully surely there are loads of Californians with a utility room in their garage, or a basement that can't be accessed from inside the house)

(Also... I just realised, if there were robots that could do laundry, but couldn't navigate to my basement, I would move. I think laundry bots would genuinely be that desirable)

Maybe, but I was thinking the next bracket or two up. I'm sure things will trickle down though.

Don't think those people need robots? I don't think the next bracket up from me does their own laundry today.

The companies servicing that echelon would replace staff as soon as they could. In an apartment, the building owner would plant one in the shared laundry and add an optional price for tenants to use it.

one of the major limitations is the capability (of currently any computer system really) handling the uncertainties that occur in the real world. there is some interesting work done in the area of human-machine co-habitation that deals with safety issues (as in physical safety for both humans and the machines sharing the same space) and strategies to react to unforeseen events. handling the general messy, noisy real world (even in a semi controlled environment like a house) is still a major limitation even if the robots could technically be capable of doing a specific chore

Yes, I can imaging that a robot chef holding a knife improperly is already dangerous enough even if it does not move (e.g., what if you trip and fall against the pointed knife)

Very impressive! I’ve not seen this configuration before.

Ah, yes. The Metal Gear Mk.II Thank you, kojima

I want this thing to have flailing hands and shouting 'weeee'

Honestly impressed! While humanoid legs are an interesting challenge from a technical point of view, there are plenty of examples in nature (roadrunners) and tech (anything with wheels) that are more efficient and practical.

Sigh. A carefully edited video of an "amazing" robot.

Been seeing these for twenty years

An independently produced video, of such a robot, that would be amazing. Truly

thought it was pretty cool. then it balanced on one leg. insane.

So between AI and robots that can do this, humans are basically done right? I am going to bed.

I believe so. A few billionaires will control giant robot armies and go up against nation states for a while, while poverty and famine rip through the rest of us who will be considered useless. But eventually the machines will get rid of everyone besides maybe a few of us in zoos or as pets.

I agree. I wish I could be more optimistic.

Not until these robots learn to self-assemble from a bag of rice like humans do

Nah, it just means we get to enjoy a 19th century future because we keep destroying our electronics using EMP bombs to fight the robots.

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