US Navy's Humanoid Robot Dances Gangnam Style

newstech

20 Oct

The CHARLI-2 Humanoid, created by Virginia Tech and used for US Naval Research to become a potential future war machine, has continually demonstrated amazing stability and speed in walking. And now, giving an entirely new meaning to a 'warrior dance,' he also dances Gangnam Style.

Developed as a research platform to research autonomous behaviours for future humanoids, this five foot robot weighs under 15 kgs, giving it low production costs. The second in the CHARLI series, the '-2' has been developed with even greater intelligence and autonomy, further improving on the unique ability to right himself when jostled and pushed. The humanoid also has capabilities to play football, winning several accolades in the process; but I guess that wasn't enough swag for one robot, as PSY's one hit wonder became the next jewel in his crown.

giving an entirely new meaning to a 'warrior dance,'

The dance is surprisingly less robotic than I expected, given the context that this actually is a robot. The Navy have been working on their own firefighting humanoid called Octavia (and quite frankly inferior), running on a wheeled chassis, which explains why their research is being moved forward with the aid of Time Magazine's "2011 Best Invention of the Year" CHARLI-2. Expect to see this working alongside human sailors on deck to put out any flames; but for now, at least they get an interesting dance-off.