Meet Leo. This is scary

MAvic_South_Oz · Oct 7, 2021

Wow, amazing tech.
Yes, a little scary, but at least with it's hands busy with props, it can't hold a weapon !!
Yet.

Prop Wash · Oct 7, 2021

Interesting at the least. I don't see a practical application, but I'm usually not the smartest guy in the room either.

Drone_Pilot · Oct 7, 2021

Prop Wash said:
Interesting at the least. I don't see a practical application, but I'm usually not the smartest guy in the room either.

Of course there is. It can skateboard

Cook maybe, clean the yard maybe

The Fat Controller · Oct 7, 2021

Terminator - the prototype?

BSauce955 · Oct 7, 2021

Tbh, I don't see a practical application either. I see no camera. Its walking is equal to that of a sloth. I think the drone portion of the robot is to help it overcome obstacles it can't walk over/around. So other than that, it's just something to look at and think it's cool. Just my personal opinion.

Cymruflyer · Oct 7, 2021

BSauce955 said:
Tbh, I don't see a practical application either. I see no camera. Its walking is equal to that of a sloth. I think the drone portion of the robot is to help it overcome obstacles it can't walk over/around. So other than that, it's just something to look at and think it's cool. Just my personal opinion.

And when that slow moving ping pong thing first came out for a computer Boop.............Boop............Boop...., we all thought that was amazing. Now look where we are today!

BSauce955 · Oct 7, 2021

Cymruflyer said:
And when that slow moving ping pong thing first came out for a computer Boop.............Boop............Boop...., we all thought that was amazing. Now look where we are today!

True, but I'm just saying that at its present stage, it's essentially useless to me. But then you have to take into consideration the countless other items that came out and never developed into anything useful. The computer is an exception, along with many other things that have turned into something great. However, that doesn't mean that everything will, and tbh, without some serious improvement, that thing is nothing more than a toyish robot that walks and flies.

Droniac · Oct 7, 2021

Drone_Pilot said:

I want one. Godspeed, Droniac.

Mavic-Master88 · Oct 7, 2021

It looks like a harmless little toy right now --- but give it a few years when it's 8 feet tall and equipped with two mini-guns on each arm --- then we'll see how harmless this "toy" will be!

Mavic-Master88 · Oct 7, 2021

BSauce955 said:
True, but I'm just saying that at its present stage, it's essentially useless. But then you have to take into consideration the countless other items that came out and never developed into anything useful. The computer is an exception, along with many other things that have turned into something great. However, that doesn't mean that everything will, and tbh, without some serious improvement, that thing is nothing more than a toyish robot that walks and flies.

I still can't understand this way of thinking. So if somebody came over to your house in 1870 and showed you a little car that was a foot long and ran on gasoline, you're saying you would look at it moving across your floor and think "interesting little toy but I see no other practical use for it" ??

To me, I see this little flying "toy" robot and it scares the hell outta me. Because I know the military-industrial complex is hell-bent to keep working on it until it's 8 feet tall and equipped with all kinds of automatic weaponry and ready to kill anything in sight. Law enforcement will love stuff like this for "crowd control".

Prop Wash · Oct 7, 2021

Drone_Pilot said:
Of course there is. It can skateboard Cook maybe, clean the yard maybe

Yeah - I guess it could "Blow all the leaves off the grass." HAHAHAHA

BSauce955 · Oct 7, 2021

Mavic-Master88 said:
I still can't understand this way of thinking. So if somebody came over to your house in 1870 and showed you a little car that was a foot long and ran on gasoline, you're saying you would look at it moving across your floor and think "interesting little toy but I see no other practical use for it" ??

To me, I see this little flying "toy" robot and it scares the hell outta me. Because I know the military-industrial complex is gonig to keep working on it until it's 8 feet tall and equipped with all kinds of automatic weaponry and ready to kill anything in sight. Law enforcement will love stuff like this for "crowd control".

True, that's why I said it it's useless to me. Other people might have a use for it, but even if they do develop it to carry a gimbal, footage from a walking robot/drone is simply nonsensical.

Mavic-Master88 · Oct 7, 2021

BSauce955 said:
True, that's why I said it it's useless to me. Other people might have a use for it, but even if they do develop it to carry a gimbal, footage from a walking robot/drone is simply nonsensical.

Useless as shown in the video.

The whole point you're missing is that it's a "proof of concept" which means a small and cheap prototype is built to prove it can work. Once that is proven, then it's easy to scale up to larger size and equip it with all kinds of tasty options like 8K camera, automatic machine guns and flame throwers. Basically, SkyNet is real and it's here and we need to be scared.

BSauce955 · Oct 7, 2021

Mavic-Master88 said:
Useless as shown in the video.

The whole point you're missing is that it's a "proof of concept" which means a small and cheap prototype is built to prove it can work. Once that is proven, then it's easy to scale up to larger size and equip it with all kinds of tasty options like 8K camera, automatic machine guns and flame throwers. Basically, SkyNet is real and it's here and we need to be scared.

Very true, but it's useless for me. I'm not in crowd control or anything of the sort. It might be terrifying in the future but unless they create something from it that I can use practically, then it's of no value to me. Now it might be a completely different story for you or law enforcement but I'm just stating my personal opinion.

The Fat Controller · Oct 7, 2021

BSauce955 said:
Very true, but it's useless for me. I'm not in crowd control or anything of the sort. It might be terrifying in the future but unless they create something from it that I can use practically, then it's of no value to me. Now it might be a completely different story for you or law enforcement but I'm just stating my personal opinion.

Military objectives aside, if it was possible to develop the thing to work reliably I could see it being deployed in environments hazardous to humans. Now that would be a useful application for such a gadget.

BSauce955 · Oct 7, 2021

The Fat Controller said:
Military objectives aside, if it was possible to develop the thing to work reliably I could see it being deployed in environments hazardous to humans. Now that would be a useful application for such a gadget.

A useful application indeed but not for me. Maybe for an environmental agency or a hazardous waste disposal company but still not of any use to me

Mavic-Master88 · Oct 7, 2021

The Fat Controller said:
Military objectives aside, if it was possible to develop the thing to work reliably I could see it being deployed in environments hazardous to humans. Now that would be a useful application for such a gadget.

When these Caltech folks and the whiz kids over at Boston Dynamics get together and start cooking up all kinds of wicked ideas --- I think we have just cause to be frightened silly. It's one thing to have a rogue cop coming at you with a gun drawn but at least a human police officer is made of flesh and blood. How is anyone going to stop a killer robot coming at you with both barrels blazing? Sorry, but I don't carry a rocket launcher everywhere I go to fight back against assassin robots LOL.

MAvic_South_Oz · Oct 7, 2021

Of course it’s useless to most people here.
And it isn’t a cheap concept item I imagine, I can see many millions having gone into this already and many hours of Caltech’s CAST divisions time.
These types of robotics are being developed for exploration of caves on Mars and other such.

Some of the developers projects.

CAST

cast.caltech.edu

Mavic-Master88 · Oct 7, 2021

MAvic_South_Oz said:
Of course it’s useless to most people here.
And it isn’t a cheap concept item I imagine, I can see many millions having gone into this already and many hours of Caltech’s CAST divisions time.

I can't see "many" millions being spent to develop this robot. Looks like mostly 3D printed parts from plastic and other lightweight materials. Not sure what "many hours" constitutes but it seems to be time well spent. This robot is the whole reason smart kids go to university to hone their math and science skills for practical purposes and tech innovation.

I'm just happy we still have students who want to tinker and make cool new things. Sure beats sitting in a cubicle all day looking at a stupid spreadsheet and not making a god dang difference in the world.