JAYFORCE

Maaan, they keep making these robots better, stronger, faster, more flexible and agile and… you get the picture. But maybe these bot makers don’t ‘get the picture’ – the Skynet-Schwarznegger-Terminator, science-NONfiction horror picture. Then again, Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert has been quoted as saying, “This is the debut presentation of what I think will be a nightmare-inducing robot.” So, maybe they do get it.

Handle is a research robot that stands 6.5 ft tall, travels at 9 mph and jumps 4 feet vertically. It uses electric power to operate both electric and hydraulic actuators, with a range of about 15 miles on one battery charge. Handle uses many of the same dynamics, balance and mobile manipulation principles found in the quadruped and biped robots we build, but with only about 10 actuated joints, it is significantly less complex. Wheels are efficient on flat surfaces while legs can go almost anywhere: by combining wheels and legs Handle can have the best of both worlds.
– Boston Dynamics

Oh… Handle is a research bot. Because all kinds of researchers need a 6.5-foot tall jumper with a four foot vertical (right, all kinds of NBA researchers). Oooo–kaaay. They must think we fell off the back of the turnip truck and it backed over our heads right after that!

(Not saying it’s not cool tech though.)