Google's parent, Alphabet, has a new pet project, a two-legged robot that can easily handle snow and pebbles, as well as walk up and down stair cases. The new robot was publicly unveiled during the New Economy Summit 2016 that was held in Tokyo, Japan.
The recently concluded NEST 2016 witnessed Alphabet's introduction of its Shaft-manufactured robot. Shaft is a Japanese robotics firm that was acquired by Alphabet back in 2013. Yuto Nakanishi, co-founder and the head of Shaft, did the honors in presenting the two-legged robot. It does not have any name yet, but it is composed of two stiff legs and can climb stairs, walk on snow and pebbles, and carry an additional 60 kg (132 lbs.) of additional weight.
Those who attended the NEST conference were the only lucky ones who have footage and images for the unnamed robot. Tim Hornyak, a tech-writer based in Tokyo and one of the attendees, posted a picture on Twitter. He said, "No name yet for Google #Schaft prototype bipedal robot, aimed at helping society by carrying heavy loads #NEST2016."
Snow, dirt, sand, and other terrains have already been conquered by these robots, but never the stairs. So this new Alphabet robot is a breakthrough for that specific task, while carrying an extra heavy load is a big plus for this robotic creatures.
DailyMail added that Shaft will be under the umbrella of the secret X division of Alphabet, which was known earlier as Google X. Shaft also worked with Boston Dynamics, another subsidiary of Alphabet, and is famous for the beastly robot called Big Dog.
Re/code reported that according to a person representing the secret X division of Alphabet, "The team were simply delighted to have a chance to show their latest progress."
The spokesperson added, "As with all of the robotics teams that recently moved from Google to X, we're looking at the great technology work they've done so far, defining some specific real-world problems in which robotics could help, and trying to frame moonshots to address them."
