Whether it is a parkour expert or a soul dancer, the appearance of the Boston-powered "net celebrity" robot will attract the attention of a large number of netizens. Recently, Boston Dynamics released a new video. The protagonist SpotMini robot dog stands in front of the camera and jumps a flexible ghost step with the background music. For a time, or imagine, or fantasize, various topics about the future of robots have become once again The object of hot discussion on the Internet.
In addition to dancing like a human, SpotMini can also work like a human. Not long ago, Boston Dynamics released a video of SpotMini monitoring at a construction site. SpotMini walked steadily, turning around in the narrow corridors, stopping occasionally to check. In the two videos, SpotMini demonstrates both entertainment and practicality, and the latter is an important exploration of robots in practical application scenarios.
The first commercial robot
Although it is overwhelmingly famous in terms of fame, the number of views on YouTube has not been converted into real money and entered the pockets of Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics, established in 1992, has always brought people questions: Is this a company or a research laboratory? ?
Beginning in 1980, Carnegie Mellon University’s Leg Lab started a series of robotics projects. In 1986, Marc Raibert moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the laboratory and founded Boston Dynamics in 1992.
At that time, Boston Dynamics did not think too much about how to face the consumer market. In the early days, Boston Dynamics had contracted some projects for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Later, Google executives "Father of Android" Andy Rubin (Andy Rubin) led a series of robot-related acquisitions, including Boston Dynamics. However, due to the inability to produce widely market-oriented products and Alphabet's abandonment of projects that were not profitable in the short term, Alphabet decided to sell Boston Dynamics in 2016, and SoftBank took over in June 2017.
Boston Dynamics is famous for developing bionic robots. In addition to SpotMini, another bionic humanoid robot, Atlas, can flip, run, and even get up from the ground after being hit by someone. Atlas' triple jump parkour video has already received more than 5 million views on YouTube.
But what can Boston Dynamics Internet celebrity robots do?
One year after being bought by SoftBank from Alphabet, at the computer exhibition at CeBIT in June, CEO Marc Raibert finally announced a heavyweight news-to put SpotMini into commercial use in 2019. "We now have 10 prototypes, and we will cooperate with manufacturers to produce 100 by the end of this year. By 2019, Boston Dynamics will produce about 1,000 units per year." Raibert said, pointing to SpotMini at his feet. In addition, Raibert said that Boston has conducted tests with potential customers in the four fields of engineering construction, distribution, security, and home assistants.
According to SpotMini’s official website, SpotMini is 0.84 meters high, weighs 30 kg, has 17 machine joints, has a 3D vision system, and is fully electrically driven. It is the most "quiet" robot dog under Boston Dynamics and can run when fully charged. In 90 minutes, the bendable limbs and flexible mobility allow SpotMini to reach spaces that large robots and wheeled and crawler robots cannot reach. The snake-shaped robotic arm helps SpotMini complete door-opening actions. When introducing SpotMini, Raibert said: “It is small enough to be placed in an office, factory, warehouse, or even at home.†Boston Dynamics wants to use the image of a robot dog that is deeply rooted in the cartoon to introduce the first commercial robot to the public. “No To a three-foot-tall robot dog, if it can help you take care of your elderly grandma and open the door for her to take medicine, it will even be a little cute."
But obviously, it is more difficult to bring the robot in the research room to the market than it is for Atlas to complete the triple jump.
Bigger vision
At the CeBIT conference, Raibert listed the challenges encountered by his robot in usage scenarios and technological breakthroughs. Entertainment functions, emergency response, and security are the application scenarios that Boston Robotics will focus on in the short term. Warehousing, logistics, distribution, engineering construction, and care services are the medium and long-term goals that the company will focus on.
Raibert gave the position of the Boston robot in practical application without shy. In Raibert's view, none of the robots has really reached the mid-term goal. SpotMini has taken the lead in testing the distribution field, in addition to being the foothold of robot companies, it has also become a market where technology companies without robot genes want to grab food. For example, Amazon launched Prime Air Service drone delivery service, using advanced ASense and Avoid system to avoid obstacles, a high degree of automation technology can send goods to a distance of 10 miles or more.
Boston Dynamics has been recognized as being at the top of the pyramid in the field of footed robots. Sun Zhengyi once issued a statement on SoftBank’s acquisition of Boston, stating that “intelligent robots will become a key driving force in the next stage of the information revolution. Raibert and his team are in the field of advanced dynamic robots. Technology leader.†The valuable thing is that Raibert knows that making practical robots is not an easy task. In his opinion, Boston’s robotics technology still needs to be improved. Because of participating in every video editing, Raibert is outspoken, in order to present three consecutive For the best effect of jumping, Atlas tried more than 20 times. "After the robot's actions are coordinated, its success rate can reach about 90%. We present the most perfect effect, and this is the goal we hope the robot will achieve."
Not long ago, the production of collaborative robot Rethink Robotics announced its bankruptcy, and the sad departure of another star robotics company was embarrassing. It meant that even with top-notch technology, robotics companies could not sit back and relax. Boston Dynamics, which has been slow to make money, has also caused a lot of concerns in the industry because of the lack of a clear business plan.
Robotics expert Arnis Mangolds, who had worked with Boston Dynamics, also affirmed Boston Dynamics' achievements in promoting the development of robotics, but when it comes to Alphabet’s "abandonment", Mangolds also expressed regret, "Boston Dynamics has not yet ushered in the golden age. It takes time to polish the technology. Without a mature commercialization plan, few large companies can take over."
It cannot be denied that robots have use value in many fields. Take the long-term field of Boston Robotics-nursing service, for example, Rodney Brooks, the top robot manufacturing expert in the United States (the manufacturer of Baxter industrial robots), predicted in 2016 that the so-called "old age" "Guardian robots" are expected to have a large market in the next 20 years. The Guardian has also reported that by 2025, the Japanese market is expected to face 370,000 nursing staff vacancies.
But Raibert also clearly knows that what the robot is "good at" should depend on the customer, not Boston Dynamics. While proposing the commercialization plan, Raibert also proposed a larger vision, which was mentioned again at the forum on the 25th anniversary of Wired in San Francisco this week. Raibert hopes to build a platform to make Boston Robotics the "Android operating system" in the robotics field. "You will get a basic SpotMini, and customers can build hardware and software on the basic version together with us or with a third party."
The expansion port used by the SpotMini robotic arm supports additional tools designed and produced by third parties. This means that if the customer wants to use the SpotMini for surveillance, then install a camera. If you want to use it to measure the building, then install a special sensor according to the customer’s needs. SpotMini can be applied in different fields. "We can try to delve into a special field, but we don't know which field is correct. So we are building a platform, hoping that the entire ecology can guide Boston Dynamics to find areas where it can really play value."
Producing practical robots for a wide range of markets is a problem for both Boston Dynamics and other robot companies. In particular, if Boston wants to make SpotMini a universal platform similar to iOS and Android operating systems, it needs SptMini to have all the basic functions of other robot experts to "customize" robots on its platform. Raibert said, "At present, robotics technology has improved a lot, but it has not yet developed to the final level we want. I think our job is to break the boundaries and also find the best use of existing technology."
People will frequently applaud the bionic robots that can do backflips, but they would like to see the robots turn backflips from the car, and then put the package on their doorstep. The Internet’s turmoil and the reality of technology are separated by mountains and seas. Raibert also admitted frankly, “Boston Dynamics is still a novice when it comes to putting the experience we have already mastered into practice. We have been planning for the future for a long time, and now is the time to try. Make practical robot products."
The Internet has turned SpotMini into a "pretty" robot in the eyes of netizens, but Boston Dynamics does not want to build castles in the sky, but let the market determine the company's future. Compared with the various criticisms and doubts that people have directed against this "video company", after the platform is implemented, Boston Dynamics does have a chance to go a further way than most people expected.
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