robotics

It's that time of the week: time for things to go right, to tick like clockwork. It's mechanical GIF time! Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than watching a few GIFs of machines doing things correctly and efficiently (especially when life doesn't go that way). Enjoy.

The word 'robot' generally has negative connotations attached to it, but MIT's mini cheetah robots are absolutely adorable. MITBiomimetic Robotics students recently took the dog-sized robots out for a play on the university lawn, and the result was way cuter than we expected. The robots aren't designed to just be cute and play soccer - they were built with the purpose to save lives with elderly care, deliveries and emergency response. 

The mini cheetahs can run up to 5 miles per hour, flip themselves over if fallen, and they're relatively cheap to make and repair. Controlled with remotes, the agility of these robots has not been seen in robotics before. The next hurdle for the team is to build cameras onto the robots, enabling them to walk around without being remotely controlled by humans. But for now, they're delighful to watch. 

Most of the time, life doesn't go as smoothly as we want it to. Life has nasty little surprises around the corner. But there are some things that will always work like clockwork: machines. There are no nasty surprises with machines. No getting caught in the rain without an umbrella. No parking fines on your windscreen. No dropping your toast on the floor face down. None of that. Mechanical things are dependable. Predictable. So here are ten mechanical GIFs of things working that will satisfy your innate desire for order. 

Boston Dynamics has done it again. By 'it', I mean surprising the heck out of everyone with their latest show-off of technology: Atlas, their humanoid robot, can now do parkour. 

This adorable gadget that offers the sweetness and presence of a cat or a dog to anyone who can't own a pet (as it's often the case in apartments in Japan) or just misses him when he is away. It will sure tag its way into your heart.

Japanese company Yukai Engineering has studied the behavior of cats and dogs as far as the effects on the movements of their tails and came up with Qoobo: a soft, round cushion with a robotic tail that reacts to strokes, just as a loving pet would."Tails: a communication tool that doesn't require words," the demo video begins. It goes on to show everyone who might find peace with the "cushion-tailed therapy robot": young people living alone in immaculate apartments, children, the elderly. The process to healing is easy: just give it a good pat and watch the cushion's tail wag softly in response. It'll also wag and curl the tail on its own, via an accelerometer in the pillow.