As time goes on, the robots we build are becoming more advanced, and if Terminator and The Matrix have anything to say about that, we’re traveling down a path where we’ll be responsible for our own destruction. Along with Boston Dynamics’ super creepy BigDog — which can now throw an entire cinder block with ease — the robotics company created PETMAN, which is a human-like robot with the purpose of testing protective clothing on humans.
Rather than just throw a bulletproof vest on a mannequin, though, PETMAN walks like a human in order to best simulate how the protective gear will react. Now, Boston Dynamics fitted PETMAN with a protective environmental suit and gas mask in order to — we’re assuming — teach robots what levels of chemicals damage us the most so they can better hunt us in the coming robopocalypse.
Obviously, you can’t (or shouldn’t, technically) test out the viability of a gas mask on a human being, and testing out harmful chemicals on animals that a prototype mask might not be able to block isn’t exactly humane. So, testing out the sturdiness of a gas mask on a robot is a safer way to go about trials.
The suit being tested is more than something that’ll be able to withstand a splash of a hazardous chemical. The suit can maintain a mini-climate inside itself, which in turn helps the suit regulate temperature for the wearer. PETMAN employs a bevy of sensors, so while a chemical hazardous to humans probably won’t kill a robot if it gets through the suit or the gas mask, the robot can at least detect a level dangerous for a human and report back.
The video also shows PETMAN performing a few complicated-for-a-robot maneuvers, such as a movement resembling flexing your muscles, or balancing in the air as if you’re sitting on an invisible chair. So, if robots don’t rise up and use their soon-to-be-extensive knowledge about what chemicals kill us best, they’ll at least be able to perform complicated mime maneuvers.