Transformable RC

[Dinyctis]

I immediately thought Macross when I saw this.

[GobotFool]

pretty old news.

[wolfx]

And you're not the 1st nor 2nd person that thought it was "1st steps towards a valkyrie"

XD

[Vermillion21]

New to me ... cool video, thx for posting!

[Alpha OTS]

New to me too. I want one!

[Nightbat]

The cold truth is, that -even though mecha have no use in real life society- one day we will build one

"Just because we can"

It'll be a project similar to the development of a slinky: useless, but fun to do

[eugimon]

There are plenty of uses for bipedal mecha in society. Do you think researchers in japan are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars just to make anime fanboys happy?

anyways, that's a pretty cool vid. It's amazing robotics went from: bipedal walking bots are impossible! to: look at the transforming bipedal bot I made in my garage last summer!

[Nightbat]

There are plenty of uses for bipedal mecha in society.

Like?

[eugimon]

Like?

like automated caretakers for the elderly and/or disabled, able to navigate stairs and dense urban settings without having to retrofit the home or surroundings?

Or for use in dense urban or factory settings where a wheeled robot maybe too cumbersome or even dangerous to human counterparts?

Search and rescue for building that don't have a bunch of ramps everywhere to allow access for wheeled vehicles.

For robots designed to mobile that have a social interface component to their functions?

Or full function prosthetics for amputees or people born with malformed limbs?

Not everyone lives in urban sprawl with plenty of elbow room and big airy buildings. Much of the world lives in dense, vertically and horizontally complex buildings with lots of stairs. As the segway has shown, a wheel based locomotive system can be ineffecient when having to navigate shared space with other occupents. An efficient bipedal robot would be able to navigate such environments without having to retrofit the environment.

Edited August 13, 2007 by eugimon

[Sdf-1]

Not all mecha are bipedal either. They have developed spiderlike forest machines over here. Plenty of use, they can go in environment a wheeled/track vehicle couldn't.

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001436.html

[Guppy]

wow, the Timerjack is cool - haven't seen that one before.

[Nightbat]

like automated caretakers for the elderly and/or disabled, able to navigate stairs and dense urban settings without having to retrofit the home or surroundings?

Only comatose don't complain about being taken care of by machines

Or for use in dense urban or factory settings where a wheeled robot maybe too cumbersome or even dangerous to human counterparts?

Search and rescue for building that don't have a bunch of ramps everywhere to allow access for wheeled vehicles.

For robots designed to mobile that have a social interface component to their functions?

If it's too dangerous for 'mecha' to get in, it's too dangerous for humans to come out

the only problems medics face is getting 500lbs people out of their homes, and for that we have cranes and forklifts

Or full function prosthetics for amputees or people born with malformed limbs?

Cyborgs, not Mecha, the problem here is control, not mechanisation

Not everyone lives in urban sprawl with plenty of elbow room and big airy buildings. Much of the world lives in dense, vertically and horizontally complex buildings with lots of stairs. As the segway has shown, a wheel based locomotive system can be ineffecient when having to navigate shared space with other occupents. An efficient bipedal robot would be able to navigate such environments without having to retrofit the environment.

and even then they aren't as effective as humans with some tools on 'em

You're taking the 'urban jungle' a little too literally

[eugimon]

In most of the industrilized world, the population is growing and there are fewer and fewer children being born. In japan, for instance, nearly 3/4 of the population was born after WWII and fewer and fewer people are interested in taking care of the elderly. Similar situations exist in Korea, Germany and in other countries where te afluent are having fewer children and young adults are not interested in careers cleaning up old people crap. Elderly and invalid care is a very real concern. The United States is one of few 1st world countries that will not face this shortage due to high level of immigration and high birth rates (thanks largely to the immigrants).

Please, even now Fire Stations and Police offices are experimenting with sending in robots into burning buildings and into tense tactical situations. There are plenty of usages for robots in these situations. Further, an eventual, bipedal robot, or multi-legged robot would be better equiped to deal with an environment already designed for such a creature.

Mechanical limbs are still robotics. Just becuase they receive direct input from the human they're attached to doesn't mean it's not a robot.

Spend sometime outside of a suburb or in any large East Asian city. Many cities like Tokyo and Seoul and are designed in three dimensions. You have skyscrappers that are connected underground and you have modern buildings coexisting with much older buildings. It just is not practical to go through and retrofit everything so that wheeled or tracked robots can zoom around. Further, human density is much greater in these cities than what you would find in most comparable western cities. People would be far less tolerant of a robot that clogs up dense alleys and small back streets.

[big F]

As for not using robots in society, we have already been using them for years, in extreme or research environments.

Like bomb disposal or recon of hazardous areas and even survalance, its only a matter of time till this takes a nother leap forward and the robot becomes more able to be autonomus and interact in/with the "human" enviroment

How about these then

While not quite as techno you gotta at least give em credits. Edited August 15, 2007 by big F

[Morpheus]

Whats the point having a robot that can transform? (hides....)

Unless it has some practical purposes like a spy bot that need to blend with the environment, or a scooter that transform into a robot to safe parking lot .

Bipedal robot are what you can say human friendly robot that are built to interact with human society (like a protocol droid or some sort).

Just make sure never name a robot B166ER .

Edited August 17, 2007 by Morpheus