30 DECEMBER 2016 • 12:53PM
2016 wasn't to everyone's
liking, but for robot
aficionados there was plenty
to pore over. If you believe
what you read, robots are
set to take our jobs, replace
sex and may count as
people.
But if the actual robots we
saw this year are anything
to go by, it might be a while
before any of that actually
happens. Here is what we
saw from our future
overlords this year:
The robot that endured
its master's torment
Google's Boston Dynamics
arm is apparently up for
sale, but that didn't stop it
releasing multiple terrifying
videos of its creations.
Perhaps the most worrying
was the 13-stone Atlas
robot, which would get up no
matter how often it was
pushed over.
The robot from Avatar
is finally here
The 13-foot Method 2 robot
from South Korea has taken
its first steps after hundreds
of millions of dollars of
investment in the project.
The robots, which hold a
human inside to control them,
are designed to work in
hazardous areas, but
similarities with the military
robots in Avatar did not go
unnoticed.
Thousands of
synchronised dancing
robots
More worrying than one big
robot may be thousands of
tiny ones.
This group of 1,040 robots
beat the world record for
synchronised robot dancing
in China this year.
The robot dog servant
In June, Boston Dynamics
unveiled Spot Mini, a robot
dog that can climb stairs, do
the washing up and dance.
It is still foiled by banana
skins, although it can get
itself up afterwards.
The sweating press-up
robot
Robots require a lot of wiring
and computing power to
work, so can be thwarted by
overheating. But scientists at
the University of Tokyo
figured out a solution.
The Kengoro robot sweats
as it does press-ups, along
water to evaporate on its
overheating motors and
staying cool.
This sewing robot
The Sewbo robot, created by
a web developer in Seattle,
was able to put together an
entire garment using
chemically-stiffened pieces of
material.
The robotic arm may be able
to put an end to sweatshop
labour in the manufacture of
low-cost garments.