DARPA's robotic arm demoed

Boston Globe reporter Scott Kirsner got a chance to go behind the scenes with DARPA's much publicized robotic arm, designed by a team led by Dean Kamen. The video includes an interview with Dean, along with some footage of the arm itself, including a symbolic handshake between the reporter and humanity's future destroyer (or if not, the ancestor of humanity's future destroyer.) Anyway, the video offers some interesting insight into the development of what could eventually be a truly bionic arm: check it out after the break.

[Beddoes @ Oct 16th 2007 4:06PM]

I hope their chief is alright...

[rzlmlchm009 @ Oct 16th 2007 4:08PM]

Can it throw a punch? This is the end of all humanity as we know it! :)

[Dias @ Oct 16th 2007 4:11PM]

Remote Killer-Cyborg, exciting!

[Rainier @ Oct 16th 2007 4:11PM]

Hello, I am C-3PO, human cyborg relations....

[Rocko @ Oct 16th 2007 4:18PM]

yea, we can make a fully automaton like ASIMO, who's just a bunch of pivots, motors and gears, but we have yet to create a realistic bionic arm.

Not that I'm blaming anyone, I just think we were too busy making sweet robots, and someone realized we could actually do something with parts of these sweet robots.

[Paul @ Oct 16th 2007 4:39PM]

"uh huh"

[Mischa Lockton @ Oct 16th 2007 4:50PM]

Didnt Japan have one already that broke someone's arm?

[AlexP @ Oct 16th 2007 5:00PM]

MORE INPUT

(/me hopes you guys get it)

[applefreak @ Oct 16th 2007 5:18PM]

that thing is so cool, I wish that I could invent some thing like that!!!!!!!!

[Sam Winter @ Oct 17th 2007 3:35PM]

@Applefreak

You definitely can work on a project such as this someday. You just need to stop worrying about being an "apple freak", and focus on being more of a "department of engineering freak" at a University.

[applefreak @ Oct 18th 2007 8:01AM]

That is not a totally correct description of me, I just couldn't think of something better,

[tommy @ Oct 16th 2007 5:21PM]

DARPA, are you sure these guys aren't from Cyberdyne industries? Uh oh.

[MikeG @ Oct 16th 2007 5:33PM]

Why when the guy says "Some come back missing two" (reffering to arms) does the interviewer laugh?

[Supra-bit-kid @ Oct 16th 2007 5:47PM]

I hope it comes with a warning not to approach Boston airport.
I can see it now; "Wounded war vet shot at Logan airport, suspected of having bomb instead of arm"

[NotMe_Pt @ Oct 16th 2007 6:14PM]

yes...darpa is "doing this for the kids"... pffff...

[jason @ Oct 16th 2007 6:54PM]

Find out how well it... umm.. handles.. things.. then sell it to the porn industry!

[Z @ Oct 16th 2007 7:47PM]

That is really slick. Dean Kamen would be the one to make it happen, and is.

It's good to have a video update, but if I have to listen to the interviewer say "Uh huh" one more time, I'm gonna go nuts!

[boomhauer @ Oct 16th 2007 8:11PM]

disappointing.. from what ive seen the tech hasnt advanced one bit in 10 yrs, when my buddy was working on his university's project. but now we have kamen to hype it. come back when you have something new to show us.

[El Payo @ Oct 16th 2007 10:34PM]

I'm only going to freak out when they start testing SKYNET.

[brain @ Oct 16th 2007 10:59PM]

Could we PLEASE chill with the "robots are going to take over the world joke." Think of a new joke. It was funny the first time... not so much the 1000nth.

[rayray14 @ Oct 16th 2007 11:19PM]

http://www.humansunitedagainstrobots.com/

Join the cause...

[Matt Welke @ Oct 16th 2007 11:22PM]

Canadarm > DARPArm

[DarkAardvark @ Oct 16th 2007 11:37PM]

yes yes! one step closer to my plan of becoming a cyborg!

btw, the flash player was pretty cool, but it started to make a bunch of errors when i would click the volume icon thingy... lol

[applefreak @ Oct 18th 2007 8:03AM]

I am pretty much a "department of engineering freak",just ask my friends after I showed them a homemade 6-axis robot.