The biped robot which rides on a bicycle by Dr. Guero
October 27, 2011 4:38 PM Subscribe
Oh hi! You're here just in time for a trifecta of things we love: Cute little robots, fixed gear bicycles, and single-link YouTube posts! I hope you like it!
I wonder if that's related to the way that Henson came up with film of Kermit and Piggy riding bycicles.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:44 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:44 PM on October 27, 2011
And then in the linked videos there's this bleating nightmare machine.
posted by loquacious at 4:46 PM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 4:46 PM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
Okay, when it waved I done lost my fool mind. HELLO TINY ROBOT LET US BE BEST FRANDS.
posted by elizardbits at 4:47 PM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 4:47 PM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
Fantastic! Hope that little guy watches out for cars, though.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:47 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:47 PM on October 27, 2011
Also I keep having moments of mental disconnect where I am DEAD SURE that it is really a normal sized person in a robot suit on a normal sized bike riding around in an ENORMOUS WORLD.
posted by elizardbits at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
If robots take over our bike riding capabilities, Matt and other humans will have to find new forms of recreation and exercise.
posted by perhapses at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by perhapses at 4:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Cut-backs at the Mitsubishi assembly plant have left many staff members unable to run a car of their own.
posted by Abiezer at 4:57 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Abiezer at 4:57 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
this bleating nightmare machine
Mechanical speech synthesis is the best thing. Previously.
posted by cortex at 4:57 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mechanical speech synthesis is the best thing. Previously.
posted by cortex at 4:57 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
That robot should be wearing a helmet.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:59 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:59 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
If robots take over our bike riding capabilities, Matt and other humans will have to find new forms of recreation and exercise.
Perhaps, but former human bike enthusiasts will still be serviceable as technicians to place the robot's feet back on the pedals after they are used to grind to a stop on the asphalt when the robot decides to acknowledge its minions with a wave.
posted by clearly at 5:00 PM on October 27, 2011
Perhaps, but former human bike enthusiasts will still be serviceable as technicians to place the robot's feet back on the pedals after they are used to grind to a stop on the asphalt when the robot decides to acknowledge its minions with a wave.
posted by clearly at 5:00 PM on October 27, 2011
Yes, but can it do a track stand while drinking a PBR?
posted by obscurator at 5:02 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by obscurator at 5:02 PM on October 27, 2011
Show me a kitty in a bike race with a tiny robot so I can turn off the Internet.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 5:06 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 5:06 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
I just realized something.
Sometimes, I do these things, like getting the mail or walking the dogs or grocery shopping or brushing my teeth, and that they're all kind of stupid and boring because I don't have a little robot on a little bicycle braking with its little feet and waving its little arms around.
I was fine about five minutes ago. Now I just feel empty.
posted by ernielundquist at 5:11 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Sometimes, I do these things, like getting the mail or walking the dogs or grocery shopping or brushing my teeth, and that they're all kind of stupid and boring because I don't have a little robot on a little bicycle braking with its little feet and waving its little arms around.
I was fine about five minutes ago. Now I just feel empty.
posted by ernielundquist at 5:11 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure a robot would be smart enough to exploit the mechanical advantages of a geared bike.
posted by DU at 5:19 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by DU at 5:19 PM on October 27, 2011
That's amazing.
posted by codacorolla at 5:31 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by codacorolla at 5:31 PM on October 27, 2011
The way we never see any people makes this seem more like art that a typical internet robot video.
Like the robot had a little robot camera he carried on his bike on a trip around town to take a video of him to send back to his robot family as if to say, "SEE HOW MUCH FUN I HAVE IN PORT CITY" except the robot has no friends to ride his bike with, and he also has no family to send the video to. A lonely robot has no emotional state. The lonelyness is inside us. It makes video because that's what it is programmed to want to do. Post-Modern Prometheus waves to the camera, because what's the point of goofing off if there's no camera around to record it?
posted by Edogy at 5:40 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Like the robot had a little robot camera he carried on his bike on a trip around town to take a video of him to send back to his robot family as if to say, "SEE HOW MUCH FUN I HAVE IN PORT CITY" except the robot has no friends to ride his bike with, and he also has no family to send the video to. A lonely robot has no emotional state. The lonelyness is inside us. It makes video because that's what it is programmed to want to do. Post-Modern Prometheus waves to the camera, because what's the point of goofing off if there's no camera around to record it?
posted by Edogy at 5:40 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
way to ruin the tiny robot dude
posted by elizardbits at 5:46 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by elizardbits at 5:46 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I so wanted him to crash into that fence.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:48 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by seawallrunner at 5:48 PM on October 27, 2011
TRANSFORM AND... ROLL OUT!
posted by Ron Thanagar at 5:56 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by Ron Thanagar at 5:56 PM on October 27, 2011
The little robot is quite cute, but I can't be the only one who is disturbed that it is steering by moving the handlebars. That's not how you ride a bike, little robot. You have to lean!
posted by ssg at 6:07 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ssg at 6:07 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Imagine little bike robots jousting!
posted by found missing at 6:10 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by found missing at 6:10 PM on October 27, 2011
Imagine little bike robots jousting!
See, this is why they're always trying to kill us.
posted by codacorolla at 6:15 PM on October 27, 2011
See, this is why they're always trying to kill us.
posted by codacorolla at 6:15 PM on October 27, 2011
things we love: Cute little robots, fixed gear bicycles, and single-link YouTube posts! --- (applause)
posted by crunchland at 6:26 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by crunchland at 6:26 PM on October 27, 2011
The little robot is steering, keeping balance, driving around, stopping with his feet ...and I'm disappointed that he can't get started by placing his feet on the pedals without assistance. I suck.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:36 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:36 PM on October 27, 2011
Hated it.
Hated it because I neither have cool toys such as it nor the cool skills to make a cool toy such as it.
posted by Samizdata at 6:43 PM on October 27, 2011
Hated it because I neither have cool toys such as it nor the cool skills to make a cool toy such as it.
posted by Samizdata at 6:43 PM on October 27, 2011
Ummmm, toys, damn it, to make cool toys such as it.
smacks forehead - Way to blow the literary conceit, dimbo!
posted by Samizdata at 6:44 PM on October 27, 2011
smacks forehead - Way to blow the literary conceit, dimbo!
posted by Samizdata at 6:44 PM on October 27, 2011
Fixed-gear bike? Oh, no. HIPSTER ROBOT. Probably fueled with PBR.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:48 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Fixed-gear bike? Oh, no. HIPSTER ROBOT. Probably fueled with PBR.
*cue Bender belching fire and telling you to bite something shiny*
posted by loquacious at 8:04 PM on October 27, 2011
*cue Bender belching fire and telling you to bite something shiny*
posted by loquacious at 8:04 PM on October 27, 2011
Every day, more and more of my life is consumed by automatons.
Time is getting short.
posted by mmrtnt at 8:40 PM on October 27, 2011
Time is getting short.
posted by mmrtnt at 8:40 PM on October 27, 2011
I don't know if you can really call it a robot since it just peddals with its legs and waves, but still an impressive creation.
posted by mitrieD at 9:32 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by mitrieD at 9:32 PM on October 27, 2011
Well, I call myself a human being and barely manage much more.
posted by Abiezer at 9:37 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Abiezer at 9:37 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't know if you can really call it a robot since it just peddals with its legs and waves, but still an impressive creation.
I would imagine the balancing is an on-board function, and requires some level of machine intelligence to accomplish.
posted by codacorolla at 9:48 PM on October 27, 2011
I would imagine the balancing is an on-board function, and requires some level of machine intelligence to accomplish.
posted by codacorolla at 9:48 PM on October 27, 2011
This is so cool. So we think it's remote controlled (eg its waving and steering), but the balancing is done internally?
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:28 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:28 PM on October 27, 2011
Great. It's just a matter of time until the robots go "Screw this, I'd rather drive a car, like the humans." Then the planet will really be screwed.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:13 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:13 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]
awesome, he should team up with tiny motorcycle riding monkey
posted by Tom-B at 7:29 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by Tom-B at 7:29 AM on October 28, 2011
Well done Metafilter - 28 posts in a thread mentioning fixed-gear bikes before the h-word appears. That's definite progress.
posted by anagrama at 9:54 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by anagrama at 9:54 AM on October 28, 2011
Robot Williamsburg is actually just a tiny automata city inside a pinball machine built by Williams Electronics.
posted by cortex at 10:02 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by cortex at 10:02 AM on October 28, 2011
This page, from the YT description, has a machine translation that seems to say that balance control is an algorithm. I may be wrong.
posted by codacorolla at 7:29 PM on October 28, 2011
posted by codacorolla at 7:29 PM on October 28, 2011
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posted by The Whelk at 4:42 PM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]