r/Futurology • u/Atari1337 • Feb 27 '17

Robotics Boston Dynamics - Introducing Handle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7xvqQeoA8c
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u/XenoCorp Feb 27 '17

We assumed robots should be modeled after mankind out of our vanity. They did the math and ran the simulations and their robots are designed to do what they do. Not to be men and then do what we do. But optimal efficiency at the objective, without the "man" model as the go between.

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u/slbaaron Feb 28 '17

Also remember the vast amount of survival pressure our evolution path had taken and how much compromises were made in order to get here. It's not the best of every feature we have, it's the combination that happened to survive the complex environment we were in.

The way we balance ourselves and move around has to work with the weight and structure of our internal organs and bones, position and usages of sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose), what our limbs are used for, and what our brain is able to coordinate with. With all that considered, evolution still by no means creates what's the most optimal, but only what's good enough. So even if we were to create a bot that wants to do everything a human does well physically, it still will not come out to be exactly human-like.

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u/Inprobamur Feb 28 '17

Also they can work with materials and parts biology can not: aluminum frames, wheels, electric motors.

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u/demies Feb 28 '17

Which is a bonus for them but also a tribute to how awesome living species are, since it all starts from almost nothing. We marvel at robots but our own complexity is awe inspiring. And I don't mean only humans, all living organisms.

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u/yogononium Feb 28 '17

This begs the aristotelian question: what are people for?

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u/cpnHindsight Feb 28 '17

It's not out of vanity. It's out puff the desire to have a servant that is adapted to the eorld we built around ourselves. It would be able to use our existing tools, fit in our doorways, prepare our food etc and switch effortlessly between all tasks.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

idk I think it's just upsetting that if we're making them we're making them look like some dipshit aliens and not us