WATCH: Cassie, a bipedal robot, runs 5km in almost an hour
We watch a robot make a 5km run in under an hour...
We all feel like we are living in the future, with the stories of flying cars, going into space, and toilets that can use your waste to power a whole building. There are those moments that make us feel like we are living through 'Back to the Future'...
Cassie, a bipedal robot, made her first 5km run recently and it got us feeling a bit stuck when it comes to how we're feeling about it. She doesn't look like we expected a robot to look. But we guess, many Robotics experts probably blame our perception of what robots should look like on movies such as 'Terminator' and 'iRobot'...
The robot was invented at the Oregon State University, and was developed by OSU spinout company Agility Robotics. Its time is roughly comparable to the half-hour many people take to finish a 5 km run. (So still a win for mankind...)
"Cassie encountered two minor hiccups along the way: The robot fell twice, once because of an overheated computer, and the second time because it was asked to turn at too high a speed, the release says." (Business Insider)
WATCH the video of Cassie making her mark on the world (Courtesy of YouTube):
"Running requires dynamic balancing - the ability to maintain balance while switching positions or otherwise being in motion - and Cassie has learned to make infinite subtle adjustments to stay upright while moving," the release says, adding that Cassie has "knees that bend like an ostrich's." (Business Insider)
In other news, a humanoid robot called Digit is another invention by Agility, and get this, Digit can use its arms for things like handling packages. So we think that Digit coupled with Cassie, can be our duet for one human...Or is that too simple for these million dollar research inventions?
As long as we don't have to deal with them taking over the world, and our lives, we are good...
Image Courtesy of YouTube