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Robot Baboon Walks on 2 or 4 Legs
When talking about legged motion in robotics, we typically cite the number of legs and make assumptions based off that figure. For example, if I say something is bipedal, you typically thing of a humanoid walking system with an upright stance and gait. If I say quadrupedal, you would likely assume something like a dog, and if I say hexapod, you're likely already cringing with thoughts of insects and arachnids.
This robot, called iStruct, hopes to escew these assumptions in an attempt to be more varried in its capabilities. Looking toward nature, we can see some specific examples of creatures that are capable of switching between quadrupedal and bipedal walking. Non-human primates can adjust their locomotion systems to traverse varied terrain. They can cover distance quite quickly using all four legs, and we've seen them switch to bipedal walking when they have their hands full. Based off of a primate's anatomy, this robot looks and walks like a baboon.
Several areas of the bot carry some interesting advances. The complexities involved in transitioning between the two modes of locomotion can be focused on two areas: the spine and the ankle.
The spine
A flexible spine allows the bot to shift from the curved spine in quadrapedal mode, necessary to retain forward-looking head placement, to the straighter spine of the bipedal mode. The midsection of the robot mimics the muscles and tendons necessary to hold the body upright in the bipedal mode.
The hind foot
A typical quadruped has a single-point-of-contact-style foot. Apart from the added stability of three feet being in contact with the ground at any given moment, any more foot parts are unnecessary. In bipedal motion, however, a foot with multiple actuated parts can help with grip and balance.
Just like the Wildcat from Boston Dynamics, this bot is both terrifying and not necessarily useful in its own right. It is intended to be a development-and-test platform. You may not ever see baboon bots roving the streets, but you may see a nice prosthetic ankle that owes its design to this bot.
— Caleb Kraft, Chief Community Editor, EE Times
Source: http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=69&doc_id=1321476
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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