We can’t help but be both utterly impressed and extremely worried about the progress of humanoid robots like ATLAS. For some reason the folks at IHMC Robotics decided to start teaching ATLAS how to balance on one foot and do the Karate Kid’s famous crane kick. If that move brought down the best fighter that the Cobra Kai Dojo had to offer, what chance does the rest of humanity stand?
Let’s not forget that Noriyuki “Pat” Morita is no longer with us, so Mr Miyagi won’t be able to help. And, as nice a guy as we hear Ralph Macchio is, Daniel LaRusso was just a character in a movie, and probably wouldn’t stand a chance against a 150kg robot like ATLAS. Can’t we just teach ATLAS how to bake cookies and maybe rescue the occasional cat from a tree? [YouTube via IEEE Spectrum]