Agility Robotics' 'Digit,' the company's newest robot edition, has turned out to be somewhat of an ordinary sight as engineers are taking them out on trial walks around Albany to experience real-world problems.
According to a KGW-TV report, the first time one sees the robot, it's justifiably difficult to look away from it. One focuses on its movements, its bird-like legs, humanness, and its machinery.
'Digit' is taken in urban settings -- down the sidewalks of the city and past establishments, smiling pedestrians and crossing cars-filled streets. It is also taken to natural environments in the woods or through grass and down trails.
For these robots to be considered as a part of society and be the type of thing one would want to have around, one needs to feel comfortable with them. People would need to feel totally safe around them.
What 'Digit' Can Do
According to Jonathan Hurst who has a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Melon University, Digit can now lift a 40-pound package. It can even catch itself in case of a fall and reorient to get back up.
Hurst, who founded Agility Robotics years ago, is currently teaching robotics at Oregon State University in nearby Corvallis.
To date, things are substantially ramping up at Agility Robotics. Digit would become part of a delivery or courier network. And the insatiable demand for online purchases fuels its development as there is a huge market pressure to get products to the customers fast and free.
To date, the cost to pay and ensure a human driver, according to the company's founder, is even costlier than maintaining robots. But there are at least 16 companies in the United States working on driverless fleets that would dramatically decrease costs.
This Robot Can Deliver Packages and Send Delivery Confirmation
On the Agility Robotics' YouTube video below, a mock-up is shown for an ad for a real fleet of autonomous vehicles from the company's partnership with Ford.
Ford was the first company to buy two of the robots of Agility Robotics last year. The vehicle company is currently using one robot for a trial of its package delivery service. The other robot is used to practice moving assembly parts in Ford's warehouse.
In the advertisement, one will see the back hatch of the van opening up, then, Digit folds out, takes the right box, maneuvers around items on a sidewalk and front porch steps. It can even remember where one wants his packages to be left and then, send and delivery confirmation.
The founder also said that people are not worrying so much about industrial robot arms. They are more worried about this Agility robot, although that is because it is 'anthropomorphic or is looking like a human.
From founding Agility Robotics, said Hurst, they have said there would be no weapons on their robot, be it offensive or defensive.
He said that they will see to it that they control the limitation of the robot's usage by buyers. He said that those are pretty essential to them as they are building robots for quality enhancement of life and to make this world a better place.
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