this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2025
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242
Robot with 1,000 muscles twitches like human while dangling from ceiling (arstechnica.com)
submitted 21 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
65 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Terrifying

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

A 500-watt electric pump serves as the robot's "heart," pushing fluid at 40 standard liters per minute.

As usual, when you read the article you stumble upon a gigantic technical hurdle. 😕

EDIT: And I'm not against the technology. I'm all for prosthetics and humanoid robots for menial work.

Just imagine the possibilities if full human-pike prosthetics are developed. Think of people who have lost their arms or legs, suddenly being able to walk again.

(And of course, applied robotics for sex bots 😉)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 hours ago

“At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus”

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago

Now have it stand on the ground without supports.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 13 hours ago

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 hours ago

Data? Is that you?

[–] [email protected] 29 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 hours ago

This kind of thing could actually be really beneficial for prosthetics. If we can make a robot that functions as close as possible to a human body at human size, then we can chunk it up to make prosthetics that work like your original limbs and are easy to adapt to.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Science isn’t about why, it’s about why not!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Now we can have people twitching while hanging from the ceiling without having to hunt them in back alleys! Progress!

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Maybe a weird aside, but what does this mean?

pushing fluid at 40 standard liters per minute.

Are there "liters" other than the 10cm x 10cm x 10cm definition?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

To totally confuse you: The USA uses the "standard litre" while Europe uses "normal litre":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_litre_per_minute

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 55 minutes ago) (1 children)

Thanks, you succeeded hahaha.

From what I'm reading there this is a measure of mass flow rate of gas, expressed as volume per minute at some standard volume and pressure. Which makes some sense, you need those two parameters to be fixed so you can measure mass by volume.

And then I realized the OP article uses it for a ~~fluid~~ liquid 😂

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (2 children)

Aren't fluids and gases kinda the same thing in some aspects, just different mass? (Clearly, not a scientist).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 44 minutes ago

First of all: Sorry, I made a mistake yesterday. I ment to say liquid but translated it wrong in my head

Now to your question, they are similar in some aspects, that's what makes gasses and liquids both be considered fluids, so fluid dynamics apply to both for example.

The difference is how much the molecules in the liquid or gas interact: A lot in the liquid, not significantly in most gasses under standard conditions.

And the things is, the SLPM measure apparently relies on a characteristic of ideal gasses, that one mol of gas particles under standard conditions always takes a fixed volume 22.41 l. So now I'm confused why they would use it for hydraulic fluid, which sounds like a liquid to me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 48 minutes ago

The major difference is compressibility. Generally, liquids are practically incompressible. So just knowing the mass flow rate and density, volume flow rate can be calculated. It's not so simple for gases

[–] [email protected] 6 points 13 hours ago

Volume changes based on temperature and pressure. So when we reference volume measurements like for flow rates, we typically do the math to adjust those to standard temperature and pressure. Standard pressure is 1 atm but standard temperature varies based on who you're talking to because of competing standards. It's usually 25 C or 20 C.

When we want to reference the non temperature and pressure corrected volume, we append actual to it so that people know what the measurement is. Some people don't do that and that causes confusion for others using their work if the reading is standard or actual.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

You mean the flow rate of a volume of liquid? What are you confused about exactly?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

They're asking why it's "standard litres per minute", instead of just "litres per minute"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Oh, well yeah Standard liters per minute or SLM, specifically refers to flow rates measured in the U.S.

So the “other” measurement would evidently be Europes “Normal liters per minute”.

What the difference is, I couldn’t tell you.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

We really are obsessed with replicating any and all sci-fi cautionary tales, aren’t we?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

It's the Torment Nexus dilemma.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 13 hours ago

I'm currently using ChatGPT to develop code that I intend to incorporate into my latest version of Roko's basilisk v0.17.13

[–] [email protected] 64 points 19 hours ago

A meme featuring Peter Griffin sitting in a chair. The text of the meme says "ah sweet man-made horrors beyond my comprehension".

[–] [email protected] 15 points 15 hours ago

I don't like living in the future as much as young me thought I would.

[–] [email protected] 92 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

They really did go for the "horror movie about to go very wrong" aesthetic when they made those videos, didn't they.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah, what's up with the music?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 20 hours ago

Sounds like the creepy in-mission music in the original X:COM

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 17 hours ago

I see they are prepping for the live action QWOP movie.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 20 hours ago (10 children)

It's clear they made this weird on purpose but still, so many questions...

the robot hangs suspended from the ceiling as its limbs twitch and kick, marking what the company claims is a step toward its goal of creating household-helper robots

Oh yeah, definitely a huge step in that direction...

Clone Robotics designed the Protoclone with a polymer skeleton that replicates 206 human bones

That's all of the bones of an human adult. Yeah, I'm sure absolutely all of them were necessary.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 hours ago

Certainly doesn't need a hyoid bone.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 19 hours ago (5 children)

I don’t understand these companies’ obsession with humanoid robots. A robot doesn’t have to humanoid to be a useful household helper. It doesn’t even have to be humanoid for people to form a friendly bond with it (something I think would be a good quality in a “household helper”) just look at Star Wars droids

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

See also: Cogsworth

[–] [email protected] 19 points 18 hours ago

Some of this is also about less complicated ways to use patents that can also be applied to things like prosthetic limbs.

Also, it provides a control case with how well-studied human anatomy is. In terms of basic mechanical motion, there's a clear baseline goal.

I remember seeing early versions of the synthetic muscle fibers years ago, but as far as ways to practically apply them and test, and refine them as control technology improves with machine learning. 10-15 years ago, this wasn't really possible.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 18 hours ago

A humanoid robot can operate in the existing world. It can climb stairs and open a door, for example. A robot on wheels without arms can't do that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 hours ago

It has to be humanoid to live among humans, using human architecture and technology.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

That's all of the bones of an human adult. Yeah, I'm sure absolutely all of them were necessary.

Are you trying to imply they gave it a dick? If so they don't have bones in them.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

No, it's pretty much only you thinking that. The rest of us were thinking about the 6 tiny bones in the ears only used for hearing or dozens of weird little bones in the wrists and ankles.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago

Doesn’t mean they didn’t give it a dick though

[–] [email protected] 6 points 14 hours ago

Exactly, ear in particular was what I thought about. There are very tiny bones in there. I'm pretty sure they didn't replicate a functional human ear, so those have no impact on anything.

Many bones in the hand and foot are also locked in place together, so modeling each one seems, well, I don't think it's a waste of time, but at this point you're making an art performance.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago

Hmm, I have some questions to ask myself seemingly

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Can't wait to find out it was just a guy in a suit.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

Let's ensure we also make household robots unreasonably strong and durable. We don't want shotgun wielding humans to be able to disable one, or barricade in a house.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 19 hours ago

Bravo scientists for realizing how creepy this is and saying, let’s lean into it.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 21 hours ago (5 children)

That's weird they decided to publish this with creepy horror-style sounds.

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