Imagination Factory

Boston Dynamics We got a preview of Boston Dynamics' latest "helper"  thanks to offscreen video leaked from a presentation , but now the company is ready to  let us meet Handle . Unlike its previous robots that  ran ,  jumped  or  walked , this two-legged monstrosity gets around on small wheels. Even with the adjustment, the video shows clearly how it can still get down stairs, navigate down a snowy hill, and pull off impressive leaps even while moving. The company says it's designed to carry things, hence the name, but with that kind of go-anywhere ability it seems equipped for any kind of task up to and including Judgement Day. Handle is 6.5 feet tall, can jump 4 feet and travels at speeds of up to 9mph. According to the description on the video, it combines hydraulic and electric actuators, and can travel up to 15 miles between charges and it's apparently less complex than the quadruped and bipedal robots.

Remember the movie  Xanadu  about a Greek muse that comes to earth and rollerskates into everyone's heart? The  leaked footage  of Boston Dynamics' two-wheeled robot Handle is sort of like that. Except replace the movie's disco soundtrack with the screams of frightened humans. The two-wheeled "Handle" robot was presented by Boston Dynamics' founder Marc Raibert at a function attended by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson who shot the video. During the event Railbert said that the rolling humanoid was built to carry items (hence the name Handle) and is an experiment in combining wheels with legs. He also said it's more efficient than and could be less expensive than the  Atlas walking robot . Of course it would be limited to smooth surfaces.  The footage (which Boston Dynamics asked Jurvetson to blur but has since been mirrored by other accounts) shows the Handle spinning and leaping with ease on smooth surfaces. It's incredi...

Humanoid robots still have  problems staying upright , especially in tricky situations, but it's evident that they're making  some  progress.  IHMC  has  posted  a video showing Boston Dynamics'  Atlas robot  balancing on one foot on the edge of a plywood board about 0.8 inches thick. The feat is a "lucky run," IHMC admits (it's rare that the robot stays poised for so long), but it's relatively effortless. The worst you see before the fall is shaking as IHMC's algorithm sometimes makes poor estimates of the robot's state. As brief as the balancing act is, it's telling. After all, many humans wouldn't last that long on their first try... at least, not with the same level of grace. It may just be a matter of refining the technique to get robots that are surefooted in situations that would trip up their organic counterparts.

While it may not be as heartwarming as  Cal Worthington's dog, Spot , Boston Dynamic hopes its newest quadrupedal robot, SpotMini, will find a place in your home. The SpotMini is a smaller version of BD's existing  BigDog line  of  robotic pack animals . It's roughly 55 pounds -- compared to the Alpha Dog's 240 -- and stands about two feet tall. Unlike the larger versions, SpotMini doesn't rely on hydraulics. It's completely electric -- reportedly the quietest Dog that BD has ever built -- and can run for up to 90 minutes between charges. The SpotMini will come equipped with a suite of navigation, guidance and perception sensors which will enable a degree of autonomy, though it will still require its human to dictate its high-level functions. That is, it'll will be able to handle a variety of household tasks but isn't quite Rosie the Robot just yet (fingers crossed that  the Atlas  will fill that role). The SpotMini's cool...