{"id":144424,"date":"2025-10-02T21:10:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ushopwell.com\/ublog\/why-irobots-founder-wont-go-within-10-feet-of-todays-walking-robots\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T21:10:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:10:23","slug":"why-irobots-founder-wont-go-within-10-feet-of-todays-walking-robots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ushopwell.com\/ublog\/why-irobots-founder-wont-go-within-10-feet-of-todays-walking-robots\/","title":{"rendered":"Why iRobot\u2019s founder won\u2019t go within 10 feet of today\u2019s walking robots"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My advice to people is to not come closer than 3 meters to a full-size walking robot,&#8221; Rodney Brooks <a href=\"https:\/\/rodneybrooks.com\/why-todays-humanoids-wont-learn-dexterity\/\">writes<\/a> in a technical essay titled &#8220;Why Today\u2019s Humanoids Won\u2019t Learn Dexterity&#8221; published on his blog last week. &#8220;Until someone comes up with a better version of a two-legged\u00a0walking 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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brooks, the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rodney_Brooks\">MIT professor emeritus<\/a> who co-founded <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/IRobot\">iRobot<\/a> (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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/ai\/2025\/10\/why-irobots-founder-wont-go-within-10-feet-of-todays-walking-robots\/\">Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/ai\/2025\/10\/why-irobots-founder-wont-go-within-10-feet-of-todays-walking-robots\/#comments\">Comments<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wpematico_credit\"><small>Powered by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wpematico.com\" target=\"_blank\">WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. &#8220;My advice to people is to not come closer than 3 meters to a full-size walking robot,&#8221; Rodney Brooks writes in a technical essay titled &#8220;Why Today\u2019s Humanoids Won\u2019t Learn Dexterity&#8221; published on his blog last week. &#8220;Until someone comes up&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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