Updated Petman -World's Most Realistic Humanoid

Boston Dynamics just uploaded a new video on youtube of their newest revision of ‘Petman’ which is a robot used to replicate human movement for military testing. The newest revision of Petman broke Boston Dynamic’s history of making really creepy robots. Petman actually looks realistic and doesn’t give me goosebumps like their first versions of BigDog. Instead I am rather impressed with Petman’s capabilities - and looks too!

In the video (below) you can see Petman replicating human motions almost to the tee. Petman is seen running, doing push-ups, and walking exactly as a human would and to the upper right you can see what appears to be Petman doing jumping jacks (or some thing like that) from Boston Dynamic’s website. All of these movements make Petman the worlds most realistic humanoid - a title which you would expect to be given to an Asian company. With innovative robots like Petman, BigDog, and the in-dev ‘SquishBot’ I’m confident that we will be seeing a lot more from Boston Dynamics.

Petman is capable of running at similar speeds to humans, jumping, doing push-ups, and even sweating. All to make sure that soldiers are provided with the best gear possible. Research like this really makes the program look good, and (I hope) helps to increase Boston Dynamic’s funding. Be sure to check out their website HERE for more info, and let me know what you think about Petman in the comment section below or on Twitter.

Robotic Exoskeleton by Sarcos - Real Life Halo?

Ever play a tad too much Halo, and step away from the Xbox wishing you were in one of those Super Suits? Well so has our military, and it’s already in construction. Sarcos, a military funded company, is building a robotic exoskeleton. With the current model, the user is able to do almost anything they can do normally, but with 10 times more strength. Ever wish you could lift 200lbs, for hours, without breaking a sweat? Well you can now (which might not impress the ladies as much, considering you’ll be in a massive metal suit). The suit also allows the user to run for miles, as well as allowing the user to have enough grace to play ball. Sarcos later plans to fully encase their exoskeleton in armor, to give the soldier better protection. But first-they have to find a way to un-teather it; and still allow it to have enough battery for more than a few hours. Once they figure that out they should probably send that info to my laptop manufacturer, because I’m lucky if I can get the battery to last 2 hours.

Petman - A Less-Creepy BigDog

Have you ever stumbled upon this scary looking guy while surfing on Youtube? With over 4 million views, just from Boston Dynamics (the robotics company who made it), and many more from other users, BigDog has gone viral. But since then what has Boston Dynamics been up to? Well “BigDog got a Big Brother”, and luckily this time its legs don’t scare me (as much). Petman is a walking biped robot, with the stability of BigDog. It’s currently being constructed for the US Army; so what sweet thing could they be using this technology for? Maybe some cool autonomous drones or an awesome video-game looking fighter suit!? Nope - Petman is currently being used to test chemical agents. By wearing Army issued clothing, and moving realistically, it can test the clothing under all conditions. It’s not as amazing as I thought, but it defiantly has a purpose. At least its massive funding and technology is used to save our troops. Although, I still think they should attach some type of weapon to the thing and see what it can do.

Boston Dynamic's Website