Walyou

Oregon SU’s ATRIAS Bipedal Robot Goes for a Stroll

Posted: 07 May 2015 01:13 PM PDT

Oregon State University ATRIAS Bipedal Robot

Recently it seems that most roboticists focus on making bipedal robots, probably in an attempt to create reflections of themselves. Oregon State University’s ATRIAS, on the other hand, while a bipedal robot, it doesn’t exactly have humanoid features.

ATRIAS has nothing on Ultron (nor Pinocchio), as it still has some strings on it, sign that its creators are not yet ready to set it free into the wild. Not long ago, the bipedal robot developed by the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory at Oregon State University, directed by Dr. Jonathan Hurst, got to make its first steps in a controlled environment. Taking it for a walk in the park (I wouldn’t want to think of robots as pets, but that is how this sounds) is a completely different thing, but ATRIAS still doesn’t pose a threat to humanity, as it’s watched at all times by its makers.

While this is far from being the best looking bipedal robot, its walking skills and the way it handles variations in terrain might cause other roboticists to get green with envy. People who have read the news about ATRIAS claim it has a horrible design, but they fail to see beyond the looks, as it’s functionality that really matters in this case.

As demonstrated in the following video, ATRIAS can easily walk downhill or uphill, but can also maintain balance while projectiles are thrown at its legs. All of these actions (and hopefully more) will be exhibited at DARPA Robotics Challenge next month. Needless to say, it will have to face some tough competition, and while it’s a bit unlikely that it will emerge victorious, it’s still a great attempt.

Hopefully, the team that created this bipedal robot won’t stop here, and will continue to add features and functionality to it. The design is not that important, but tweaking it a bit wouldn’t hurt, either. After all, if the roboticists behind ATRIAS are looking to please everyone, they’ll need to take this into consideration, as well.

Instead of conclusion, I would like to show you the message posted by Oregon State DRL on YouTube, as a comment to the above video: “I walked outside for the very first time. #Robots don’t get emotional about these things, though… sniff #Robotics”

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Spotify Takes on YouTube, Works on Video Sharing Service

Posted: 07 May 2015 12:23 PM PDT

The Swedish music streaming company has really started to shine in the past couple of years, and now it’s looking to expand into uncharted territory by showing its video sharing capabilities.

YouTube has been around one year longer than Spotify, but that doesn’t mean that the latter couldn’t pose a threat to Google’s video sharing service. Apple’s rumored Beats Music was supposed to be the Swedish company’s main target this summer, but now it looks that it’s looking to fight on multiple fronts at once. As diving right into a new industry would have been risky, the music streaming startup has made some preparations by establishing some strategic partnerships.

“Never put all your eggs in one basket,” is an expression that applies to business more than one would think. Sure, Spotify has millions of users (more precisely 45 million ad-supported users and 15 million subscription users), and during the past quarter alone has generated great revenues, but it has yet to make a profit. One could say that the music streaming industry is getting quite crowded, with Jay Z’s Tidal and Apple’s Beats Music breathing in Spotify’s neck, so jumping into a new bandwagon would be the next logical step, even though there are plenty of veterans when it comes to video sharing, too.

YouTube currently has a market share in the US of 73 percent, so Spotify will have to put on the big boy pants, if it really wants to represent a challenge. On the other hand, the Swedish company might want to focus on some sort of niche that hasn’t yet been exploited by the others.

The Wall Street Journal claims we won’t have to wait that long to see what Spotify has in store for us. In fact, its new video sharing service might be up as early as this month, and then we’ll have to wait and see if their new product has what it takes to survive in this cruel, cruel world.

Competition can only be good for the customers, provided that the competitors stay alive long enough to make an impact. On the other hand, if Spotify decides to create a video sharing service just to complement its music streaming one, things might not look so good for the music industry, which has already been crippled by such services.

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