Why iRobot’s founder won’t go within 10 feet of today’s walking robots

When a robotics pioneer who has spent decades building humanoid machines recommends that you stand at least nine feet away from any full-sized walking robot, you should probably listen.

“My advice to people is to not come closer than 3 meters to a full-size walking robot,” Rodney Brooks writes in a technical essay titled “Why Today’s Humanoids Won’t Learn Dexterity” published on his blog last week. “Until someone comes up with a better version of a two-legged walking robot that is much safer to be near, and even in contact with, we will not see humanoid robots get certified to be deployed in zones that also have people in them.”

Brooks, the MIT professor emeritus who co-founded iRobot (of Roomba fame) and Rethink Robotics, believes companies pouring billions into humanoid development are chasing an expensive fantasy. Among other problems yet to be addressed, he warns that today’s bipedal humanoids are fundamentally unsafe for humans to be near when they walk due to the massive kinetic energy they generate while maintaining balance. That stored-up energy can cause severe injury if the robot falls or its limbs strike someone.

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