Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

HyQ Four-Legged Robot From Italy

An interesting video of HyQ, the four-legged Italian robot, has surfaced. Take a look the video below; it shows some of HyQ's moves, like trotting over obstacles even when walking up hill.


(HyQ Italian quadruped robot video)

The HyQ project started in Spring 2007 as my PhD project at the Advanced Robotics Department of the Italian Institute of Technology (under the supervision of Dr. Nikos Tsagarakis and Prof. Darwin Caldwell). The goal of this project is to develop a versatile quadruped robot that is able to perform highly dynamic motions such as running and jumping, and also precise navigation over rough terrain.

Readers are probably remarking about the similarities of HyQ to the BigDog robot, from Boston Dynamics. HyQ appears to be a separate, parallel development.

SF fans of recall that in the 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury created the mechanical hound, a robot that accompanied the firemen and helped with their work:

"The mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the fire house." [more]

Check out this early refernce from the 1951 short story The Quest for Saint Aquin by Anthony Boucher, who writes about an autonomous robot with articulated legs:

He... took his first opportunity to inspect the robass in full light. He admired the fast-plodding, articulated legs, so necessary since roads had degenerated...
(Read more about the robass)

Via Kurzweil AI; see also Claudio Semini's HyQ website.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/16/2012)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.

HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'

Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.' - Harl Vincent, 1934.

Robots For Hire En Masse
'...small investors profited, too.' - Raymond E. Banks, 1956.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones
'It hurtled on down with inconceivable speed until it was visible as thousands of tiny robot planes...'

Nifty Folding Electric Bicycles!
'Separate paths were provided for them...'

FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'

Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
'The population of Castle Hagedorn was fixed...'

Project Silica Offers 'Long-Term' Digital Storage
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'

Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'

Crystalline Structures In Space, You Say?
A massive space borne lifeform from ST:TNG.

Garçon! A Menu For Artemis II, S'il Vous Plaît
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'

Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'

Blue Collar AI Goes To Work To Mine Its Own Crypto
Blue collar bot.

Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'

HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'

Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'

When AI Takes Its First Breath
Any suggestions?

Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners
Daytime version.

The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.