MIT Engineers Create New Humanoid Robot with Human-like Reflexes (VIDEO)

First Posted: Aug 11, 2015 10:13 AM EDT

MIT engineers may have created the most human-like robot yet for this year's DARPA robotics competition. The new, bipedal robot actually has human reflexes.

The two-legged robot is named HERMES, and has the ability to punch through walls, smash soda cans, karate-chop boards in half and generally wreak havoc. However, these actions aren't its own. Instead, the robot is controlled by a human wearing an exoskeleton of wires and motors, which allows his movements to be transferred instantly to HERMES.

The robot actually has a unique balance-feedback interface. Without this interface, the robot would plunge headfirst into the wall after trying to punch through it. The interface, though, allows humans to remotely feel the robot's shifting weight and quickly adjust the robot's balance by shifting their own weight.

"The processing of images is typically very slow, so a robot has difficulty reacting in time," said Joao Ramos, one of the researchers at MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, in a news release. "Instead, we'd like to use the humans' natural reflexes and coordination. An example is walking, which is just a process of falling and catching yourself. That's something that feels effortless to us, but it's challenging to program into a robot to do it both dynamically and efficiently. We want to explore how humans can take over complex actions for the robot."

Ultimately, the researchers hope to deploy the robot to a disaster site. This machine could then explore the area, guided by a human operator from a remote location. They eventually want to develop a full body suit and goggles so that the operator can feel and see everything that the robot does and vice versa. That way, the robot can respond quickly to commands.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube and MIT News.