Turing Lecture: Building dynamic robots - Marc Raibert, Boston Dynamics

The finale in the Turing Lecture mini-series exploring the role of AI and data science in our lives post-lockdown. Public opinion of robots has seen a positive turn since the global lockdown. Their use in hospitals, as social distancing assistance and personal companions have given us more reason than ever to welcome them into our lives, our homes and our public services. In this lecture, we’ll hear from the man behind one of the biggest robotics companies in the world, Boston Dynamics, whose robotic dog, Spot, has been used to encourage social distancing in Singapore and is now getting ready for FDA approval to be able to measure patients’ vital signs in hospitals. Making robots move dynamically in order to do versatile tasks more safely, efficiently and economically sustainably has been one of the holy grails of robotics. We will explore why this is a difficult challenge, both in terms of creating appropriate hardware as well as developing robust, reactive planning and control systems. Professor Sethu V