Ethical Robotics
Cassie, a robot developed by researchers at Oregon State University completed the first robotic 5-kilometer outdoor run.
As the world of robotics continues to churn out products with human-like abilities, researchers at Oregon State University have achieved a landmark with their bipedal robot named Cassie: The first outdoor 5-kilometer run completed by a robot.
Cassie was produced through OSU off-shoot company, agility robotics, and considering it’s the first robot to complete an outdoor 5k gives it the world record off technicality.
This feature allows Cassie to remain upright while in motion and accordingly the bot can make infinite subtle adjustments to stay balanced while moving.
Cassie is part of a lineage of functional robotics from the Dynamics Robotics Laboratory, which is part of the OSU college of engineering. It is the successor to ATRIAS, the first robot to recreate a human gait, and has been followed by the humanoid robot Digit, which can transport packages and was part of a Ford project into autonomous delivery robots.
“In the not very distant future, everyone will see and interact with robots in many places in their everyday lives, robots that work alongside us and improve our quality of life.”
Jonathan Hurst, a professor of robotics at OSU helmed the development of Cassie and believes robotics will benefit humanity rather than spell its demise. Aside from logistics work like package delivery, Hurst envisions a world where robotics have the intelligence and safety capabilities to assist people in their own homes.