- [Narrator] As New York Times best-selling author
and robotics engineer, Daniel H. Wilson said:
"There are an endless number of things
to discover about robotics.
A lot of it is just too fantastic for people to believe."
Indeed, we're conditioned to think robots are always
in some distant far-flung future.
With an endless stream of sci-fi films,
books, and shows depicting a robotic future,
it's hard to accept it's actually happening.
However, the ingenious innovations pouring out
of robotics labs around the world
are heralding a new age of advanced AI robots.
Far from dumb machines,
these increasingly human-like automatons
have silicon minds that process faster
and faster by the year.
In this video, I'll explore the robots
at the bleeding edge of artificial intelligence.
These are the first generation of robots
set to change the world as we know it.
Number 10: Digit.
Meet Digit.
This 5-foot-tall robot designed and built
by Agility Robotics is the next step in robot innovation.
Developed as a successor to Cassie,
a small bipedal robot able to run and walk,
Digit is almost frightening in its human-like capabilities.
Where Cassie was little more than a pair of legs,
Digit has a fully functioning humanoid body.
Weighing 42.2 kilograms,
Digit can navigate its environment semi-autonomously
with the help of LIDAR and other sensors.
It can, for instance, carry boxes upstairs
or deliver packages to your door.
This new capability is down Digit's
four degree-of-freedom arms
that allow Digit to not only balance
but also carry and manipulate objects,
like opening a door or stacking boxes
weighing up to 18 kilograms or 40 pounds.
Powering this ingenious machine are two multi-core CPUs.
This powerful robot brain allows the processing
of such complex actions in real-time.
It won't be long before Digit
is delivering packages to your door.
Number 9: Pepper.
Far from planning world-domination,
Pepper is an empathic robot.
This 4-foot-tall machine is the brainchild
of SoftBank Robotics, built with the express purpose
of reading emotions.
In fact, Pepper can understand fifteen languages,
recognize when a person is talking
and give an appropriate response.
It does so, using two HD cameras, a 3-D depth sensor,
as well as two sonars and six lasers
to help guide it through crowds.
Launched in 2014, Pepper's first batch of 1,000 units
sold out in just 60 seconds.
However, despite selling 27,000 units,
SoftBank reported they would pause production
due to weak demand.
Pepper was not quite the emotional genius
SoftBank had promised.
Still, Pepper's maneuverability was on full display
at a professional baseball game during the COVID lockdowns.
The robot's 20 motors, located in the shoulder,
elbow, wrist, hand, hip, and knee,
whirred as 100 Peppers danced in sync
to raise public spirits.
However, not everyone was impressed,
with some branding the display "creepy."
Number 8: Spot.
Few robotics companies amaze more than Boston Dynamics.
In their 2020 viral video,
it was the humanoid Atlas that stole the show.
However, Spot, a nimble four-legged robot,
is no less impressive.
So, how does it work?
Drawing upon their experience with early quadrupedal robots,
like BigDog and Cheetah,
Spot uses five onboard cameras
to inspect the world around it,
giving it a 360-degree view of the terrain.
It has twelve degrees of freedom
and a balance system so strong
that the little robot would remain upright,
even if you kicked it.
Nor is this dog slow.
It can move at 1.6 meters per second
and carry weights up to 14 kilograms.
Plus, with a battery life of 90 minutes,
this helpful little robot is perfect
for inspecting dangerous sites,
such as after a natural disaster.
In fact, Spot has even been tested
alongside British Royal Air Force service members,
and, in November 2019,
Massachusetts State Police announced the use of Spot mini
as a robot cop in the unit's bomb squad.
Companies are also developing devices
to fit onto Spot's back, such as Trimble,
which collects highly accurate scans
of the surrounding area,
with applications in construction and beyond.
Number 7: HRP-5P.
HRP-5P might have a name reminiscent of a Terminator,
but this advanced humanoid prototype
may one day replace humans in heavy-duty labor.
Developed in Japan,
HRP-5P is one of the few robots around average human height
at 5 foot 10 inches or 182 centimeters tall.
Moreover, its limbs have an incredible degree of movement.
Its arms, for example, each boast 8 degrees of freedom,
with 37 degrees of freedom in total.
But it's not just its physicality that's impressive.
AIST, the institute behind HRP-5P,
also focused on improved intelligence.
This lumbering giant can recognize objects
and understand the scale of the environment around it.
In one demonstration,
HRP-5P is seen picking up a gypsum board,
carrying it over to a wall, and screwing it in
thanks to a built-in electric screwdriver.
It's hoped this incredible innovation
will one day assemble houses, buildings,
aircraft, and even ships.
Number 6: Surena IV.
Named after the Parthian General Surena,
this humanoid robot was produced
by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
in Iran.
Its first incarnation was Surena I:
a small but impressive robot capable
of playing football and speaking Persian.
It's come a long way since then.
The 4th incarnation, Surena IV,
was officially revealed in 2019
and was a significant upgrade.
Where Surena I had only 8 degrees of freedom,
Surena IV boasted 43, with high dexterity in the hands,
meaning Surena can grasp objects using its whole body
or pick up small objects using its hands alone.
Moreover, this new version isn't just more advanced;
it's also bigger.
At 1.7 meters tall and weighing 68 kilograms,
it's one of the largest humanoid robots in the world.
One of the main goals of the SURENA IV project
was a better AI.
Indeed, the robot can detect and count faces and objects,
recognize activities, listen to speech and even talk.
With each new generation a leap forward in advancements,
Surena V may be the most advanced robot in the world.
Number 5: Aquanaut.
Aquanaut is unlike any robot you've seen before.
Gone are the humanoid body and friendly face,
this aquatic robot is built for the high seas.
At first glance, Aquanaut looks like a small,
sleek submarine.
But, once transformed, two arms appear,
ready to work on deep-water infrastructure
with minimal supervision from a human operator.
Indeed, Aquanaut's spec is more than a little impressive.
With a maximum speed of 6 knots,
the aquatic robot can speed along scanning the seabed.
It has a large payload capacity of 91 kilograms
and can keep going for a maximum of 75 hours.
However, it's the arms, or "manipulators,"
that are most impressive.
With more than 6 degrees of freedom
and 360 degrees of continuous rotation,
Aquanaut can survey an area,
repair oil pipelines, or manage aquaculture products,
all without risking a single human life.
The marine machine works on the Robot Operating System,
or ROS, widely used across the industry.
But with a lack of direct, wired connection to home base,
Aquanaut is vastly more autonomous than other robots.
As manufacturer Nauticus robotics puts it:
"Aquanaut is the future of underwater robotics."
Number 4: Stuntronic robot.
Imagine a robot with the agility and grace of an acrobat,
a robot able to glide through the air
and perform a perfect backflip.
You don't have to imagine it.
The Stuntronic robot, created by Disney Engineering,
is just that.
Nicknamed Stickman, this realistic robotic figure is capable
of death-defying feats.
Using sophisticated onboard sensors,
this robot can perform aerial flips,
twists, and poses with repeatability and precision,
albeit the team has yet to perfect the landing.
Part of the challenge of developing a 90-pound robot
capable of somersaults while 60-feet in the air
was the conservation of angular momentum
to achieve precision aerial motion control.
To solve the problem, the robot uses a complex system
of accelerometers, gyroscopes,
and laser range finders to judge distance and speed,
thereby calculating its trajectory.
This advanced and innovative solution
allows Stickman to control its rotation
and orientation in the air.
It's expected one day Stickman will wow Disney audiences
with these incredible feats.
Number 3: Handle.
Handle isn't just the future of robotics;
it's the future of the industry.
Speeding around on two wheels,
this Segway-like robot can pick and stack boxes
weighing up to 45 kilograms using a vacuum arm.
Handle is like no robot you've ever seen before.
Rather than sticking with legs,
the Boston Dynamics team reverted back to wheels,
perfect for jetting around the factory floor.
It also reduces complexity
by decreasing the degrees of freedom.
That may sound like a bad thing,
but the purpose of Handle is a practical
and functional robot perfectly suited for logistical tasks.
That's not to say it isn't advanced.
As Boston Dynamics explained,
"Much of the control used in Handle
leverages our team's experience
with the quadruped and biped robots.
The software is not exactly the same,
but the balance and dynamic control principles
have a lot in common
and share the same physics-based roots."
With a range of 24 kilometers and its two-wheeled design,
Handle is small enough to maneuver
around tight factory corners
and can travel far enough for a complete factory shift.
Number 2: Atlas.
Perhaps the most famous humanoid robot in the world,
Atlas combines 28 hydraulic joints
and a lightweight body to produce fluid
and graceful movements unthinkable only a decade before.
Atlas can jump, walk, run, backflip, even dance.
It achieves these impressive movements in three ways.
First, it has a vast library of behaviors,
or template motions.
It can use when constructing complex routines.
Second, it uses real-time perception
to detect its environment with advanced sensors.
Finally, it uses model-predictive control
to predict how its motion evolves over time,
adjusting accordingly.
In one video, Atlas stumbles and wobbles,
only to regain balance.
You can't pre-program that.
In fact, Atlas is so lifelike
that many assumed this backflipping machine's viral videos
were CGI.
But it was all real.
With a top speed of 2.5 meters per second
and weighing just 89 kilograms,
Atlas is one of the most mobile
and physically capable robots globally.
Next, Boston Dynamics aims to improve Atlas's automation,
allowing it to conduct routines
without the extensive pre-planning
and orchestration of previous versions.
Number 1: Ameca.
Ameca is alive, or at least looks like it.
Unlike other humanoid robots that focus on physical motion,
Ameca is at the cutting edge of human expression.
Using 17 individual motors,
this not-quite-human robot
can produce surprisingly vivid and emotive expressions.
Produced by Engineered Arts,
Ameca uses artificial intelligence
and machine learning systems
to understand human expression and behaviors,
evolving and growing as it interacts.
It employs an array of cameras, depth sensors,
LiDAR, and microphones
to detect our expressions and movements,
blending this information together
and responding appropriately.
It's light-years ahead of its competition.
But perhaps the strangest thing about Ameca
is the gray, plastic face.
After trying to create more human-like robots
in previous generations,
Engineered Arts learned that such machines
are often viewed as slightly sinister,
falling into the uncanny valley of human appearance.
Ameca is also continuously improving.
Being modular by design, the entire robot
is easily upgradable.
In time, the team hopes to install movement capabilities
so that Ameca will be the ultimate walking talking machine.
But what do you think?
Are we on the verge of a robotic revolution?
Or do you remain unconvinced
by the world's most advanced AI robots?
Let us know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this video,
make sure to watch out for the next video
on The World's Future Technologies in 2050.
Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.