Latest news with #DanielePucci
New York Post
3 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Flying ‘baby-faced' robot is the first of its kind — and it's freaking people out: ‘What the f—k are we doing!?'
This adolescent-looking android is the first flying humanoid robot — but the internet is creeped out by how it looks. The Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) recently shared a video that updated curious viewers on the project titled iRonCub MK3's progress, but the robot's face seemed to be of special interest to the internet. 'Why does he look so freaky though,' pondered one viewer in a Reddit thread dedicated to the humanoid robot, meanwhile another wrote: 'This is very impressive, but by God, what's with that face? He is staring into my soul.' 'The technology showcased here is great, but why in the f–k does it have to look like a monster baby?' wondered another Redditor. Some viewers who stumbled across the mechanical creation happened to be especially out-of-the-box thinkers and proposed some wild theories about its appearance. 'When the uprising comes, you'll be much less likely to shoot a cyborg with a baby face,' theorized one user. 'You'll hesitate that fraction of a second, which is all it needs…' However human the robot may look, conspiracy theorists don't need to fret — it's not controlled by AI. Instead, it's teleoperated, or in other words, controlled by real people remotely. The Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence research team within the IIT works almost entirely with robotic humanoid technology — and now has five different robots, according to Live Science. This particular model is the result of two years of research, testing and development. With the jet pack, the baby robot weighs in at 154 lbs and stands about 3 feet tall. The widely reviled airborne automaton is called the iRonCub MK3, and is based on the institute's earlier humanoid robot model, the iCub. AFP via Getty Images According to the IIT, the iRonCub MK3 is being developed with 'specific applications such as disaster response' in mind. Typically, these robotic research efforts focus on land-based rescue and exploration, but the institute believes that implementing aerial locomotion skills will increase the utility and efficiency of any such endeavors. 'This research is radically different from traditional humanoid robotics and forced us to make a substantial leap forward with respect to the state of the art,' explained Daniele Pucci, one of the researchers on the team. While many internet users expressed profound confusion at the robot's uncanny childlike appearance, it turns out that some of the more humanoid features the iRonCub MK3 possesses have practical purposes. A computer modeling mockup of the flying humanoid robot. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Functional legs allow the robot to traverse terrain once it arrives via air, and realistic hand and arm capabilities let it open doors, move objects or even interact with things like switches or valves. Currently, the robot's arms have been replaced by two jet thrusters, but as the project's development continues, it will have its functional upper limbs restored. The iRonCub MK3 has been tested outdoors in a variety of situations, and has also undergone flight testing in a wind tunnel — another first for a robot. Though the majority of internet users ragged on the robot's baby face, others saw its charm. 'It's Astroboy!!' one user commented enthusiastically, while another gushed: 'Actually, it's cute.' No matter where you land on the topic of the android's appearance, don't be too mean about it — after all, this unique-looking creation could save your life someday.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
See A Flying Humanoid Robot Achieve Liftoff For The First Time
iRonCub lifts off with the help of four jet engines, two mounted on its arms and two on a jetpack ... More attached to its back. After two years of trial, error and persistence, an Italian robotics team finally watched as its humanoid bot did what it was designed to do — take to the air. As the below video shows, the jet-powered robot named iRonCub (yep, that's an Iron Man reference) lifted off the ground about 1.5 feet while maintaining its stability. It's still early days in the prototype's flying career, but iRonCub's creators say its first flight this spring could pave the way for humanoid robots that switch between terrestrial navigation and aerial mobility when operating in extreme terrain and environments devastated by natural disasters. 'This first flight has been a long journey for us,' Daniele Pucci, director of artificial and mechanical intelligence at the Italian Institute of Technology, said in an email. Pucci co-authored a new research paper in the open-access journal Open Engineering detailing how the team modeled and controlled the robot's aerodynamics and validated their approach through wind tunnel experiments in which iRonCub hovered and performed controlled flight maneuvers amid high-speed gusts and extreme temperatures. In wind tunnel tests at the DAER Aerodynamics Laboratory of Polytechnic of Milan, iRonCub stayed ... More stable amid high-speed, turbulent gusts. Researchers worldwide are already focusing on multimodal robots that can adjust to their environments and access sites too hazardous or difficult for humans to reach. So what's the benefit of equipping such robots with human-like arms, legs and hands? In emergency and disaster scenarios, many critical access points are built with human ergonomics in mind, including doors, gas valves, ladders, switches and handles, Pucci and fellow researchers Davidi Gorbani and Antonello Paolino said in a joint written response to my questions. 'A humanoid robot, therefore, is inherently well-suited to interact with these human-centric systems, navigating staircases, narrow corridors, or uneven terrains, and directly manipulating objects designed for human hands.' iRonCub evolved from iCub, an earlier research-grade robot out of the Italian Institute of Technology that was designed to help develop and test embodied AI algorithms, and which currently is available for sale. iCub's flying cousin is equipped with AI-powered control systems — developed in collaboration with Gianluca Iaccarino's mechanical engineering group at Stanford University — and lifts off with the help of four jet engines, two mounted on its arms and two on a jetpack attached to its back. With jet engines attached, the robot weighs around 154 pounds. To protect it from the force and heat produced by the engines, iCub got upgraded with a titanium spine and heat-resistant covers. While the video shows iRonCub attached to a harness for safety and remaining comfortably close to terra firma, reaching this milestone posed significant design and engineering challenges. Its movable limbs complicate the aerodynamics, and gases emitted from the wind turbines exceed 1,200 degrees and flow at nearly the speed of sound. 'Controlling these robots in flight is fascinating yet dangerous, and there's no room for improvisation,' Pucci, Gorbani and Paolino said. 'The complexity of safely managing combustion, heat dissipation and high-speed airflow demands meticulous, multidisciplinary co-design strategies, simultaneously optimizing the robot's physical shape, materials, control algorithms and propulsion system placement.' Next up for iRonCub will be further flight tests, some at the Genoa Airport, which is setting up a dedicated area for robo-flights where it can hopefully practice untethered liftoffs. The robot may not be Tony Stark yet, but the team envisions a day when we will see it flying over obstacles like floods and fires and landing safely amid unstable debris — like a real-life superhero.
