This Evolution in Robotics Is Making Terminator-Style Robots a Possibility in the Very Near Future 

MIT robotics students have created a robot that can imitate human reflexes.

According to the project team member Albert Wang at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, “[The team] decided that connecting the robot to a human operator was the easiest way to incorporate the kind of intelligence we need. It would take a computer a long time and a lot of programming to come to the quick conclusions that humans come to almost instantaneously through good instincts.”

Hermes is similar to the jaegers from the 2013 film Pacific Rim where pilots were connected to machines physically and mentally in order to operate the large humanoid-battle robots for combat. This tech is also reminiscent of anime fighting robots in Mobile Suit Gundam.

The setup is simple enough. A person wears an exoskeleton of wires and motors as a sensor suit. The suit makes Hermes balance and move very similarly to a person.

“An example is walking, which is just a process of falling and catching yourself. That’s something that feels effortless to us, but it’s challenging to program into a robot to do it both dynamically and efficiently,” says team member Joao Ramos.

Hermes will be part of the 2015 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency robotics competition.

The robot could be used to help people build houses, perform surgery or even give the elderly newfound strength. MIT released a video showing the robot’s capabilities for the public. Take a look below:

6 Incredible Bionic Animals That Researchers Have Already Created

Many people know there are robotic dogs and T.rexes on the toy shelves right now. However, more bionic animals, used for various activities, have been developed globally. Here are six different types of robots being made in labs that are currently being used:

 

paper-robots-snake-advanced-functional-materials-1407396363849
Origami Snake Robots

Harvard researchers have designed a paper snake robot that runs on nothing but air. Their flexible bodies allow them to move into areas hard robots can’t. According to the research team led by George Whitesides, the “soft” robots are also able to lift 100 times their weight. They are pretty much a real life Baymax from Big Hero 6.

robotinsect05_adi_webInsects, Grasshoppers, Butterflies

There are a variety of insect-based robots. In 2012, insect robots were introduced at a TED Talks conference. These tiny robots could swarm, maneuver like flies and even play music.

There is a grasshopper robot that was developed at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom that can leap and walk on all terrains. The robot was developed by Rhodri Armour, a graduate student at the university.

The robotic butterflies were developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Their goal is to learn more about the behavioral patterns of butterflies.