Boston Dynamics has a new robotic nightmare called ‘Handle’

The highly agile, extremely mobile robot is the latest innovation from Boston Dynamics, a robotics company that has already developed other robots that can walk like living creatures.

In a recent presentation, founder Marc Raibert referred to the new creation as a “nightmare-inducing robot”.

Boston Dynamics’ Handle is a two-wheeled robot with self-righting mechanisms and a pair of support arms, which makes it look like a really, really good Swegway rider. Be clever and hand them over.

In the clip, Handle owns an ice-covered slope like a pro, jumps a table backwards, and even does a cute little heel flip on the video’s final frame. Building a robot that’s capable of working safely and effectively near humans is far more hard than producing a slick demo video. It is a hybrid, wheeled bot called Handle that can cruise at speeds of 9 miles per hour and jump up to 4 feet in the air.

One might think stairs might trip up Handle, given that it’s got wheels on the end of each leg. It can pick up 100 pounds and do impressive tricks on its roller blade feet.

Google’s parent company Alphabet took over control of Boston Dynamics but recent reports suggest that Alphabet was looking forward to offload its stake in Boston Dynamics.

Well, basketball had a good run – but robots are coming. As far as power is concerned, “Handle” can travel up to 15 miles on a single battery charge.

Boston Dynamics explained that this one is different than the prior iterations. The wheels also enable a significant reduction in complexity compared to the company’s previous bipedal and quadruped robots, with Handle sporting around just 10 actuated joints.