The Navy Times staff has been busy scoping out the latest technology at the Office of Naval Research Science and Technology Partnership Conference this week in D.C.
You can see some of our top picks in next week’s issue, but for now, here are videos of some adorable little tykes at the conference who won over the hearts of everyone in the newsroom.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36aKlAyrfiw&feature=BFa&list=UU-PrLk_odSlw0ZKGBJnhlcQ[/youtube]Seriously, can you even look at these things without going “Awwww?”
The DARwIn-OP bots, created by the Robotics and Mechanics Laboratory at Virginia Tech, showed off their skills at the conference, kicking around balls while everyone who passed by stopped to snap photos. Researchers could even tell the robot which colored ball to follow, switching from red to green halfway through the presentation.
The lab’s larger robot CHARLI-2, a two-time winner of robot soccer competition RoboCup, also made an appearance at the conference, though he didn’t show off any of his dance moves. This humanoid has more rhythym than a lot of humans I know.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmeJvkN4ntI&list=UU-PrLk_odSlw0ZKGBJnhlcQ&index=1&feature=plcp[/youtube]