Researchers Tether Man & Machine

Humanity is one of the biggest concerns with autonomous humanoid robots. What if they aren't human enough? A team of researchers from the University of Illinois and MIT has developed a way to keep a human in the robot by tethering the two together. The researchers have created Little Hermes. Right now, it's just a small robot torso with legs but is operates simultaneously with a human counterpart. The small-scale bipedal robot could one day be deployed into situations deemed too dangerous for humans. The researchers were inspired by the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011. While humans couldn't intervene as the disaster was unfolding, a humanoid robot could've helped prevent the nuclear meltdown that is still rippling throughout the world today. The idea of human-piloted robots isn't new, but this is one of the first times that the human feels the same forces that the robot experiences. The researchers created a motion-captures suit that acts as an exoskeleton. The human uses the suit to move the robot, but also feel what the robot feels. The synchronicity would also help stabilize the robot. To prove the feedback force, the researchers struck Little Hermes with a mallet -- and its human counterpart felt the impact as well. Next, the researchers are hoping to make Little Hermes wireless and create robot-to-human force feedback devices for other parts of the body.