posted on May, 1 2004 @ 06:41 PM
OK well first of all i have not seen all the clips for this robot but i did see the one where the robot stopped the car. the wheels mounted on the
shoulders, if you read thru the site, are part of a momentum storing system that allows it to walk and move its arms without a massive change in RPMs
on the engine. in response to the fact that the site is registered to a BMW ad agency, that is entirely plausible. the man who supposedly made this
robot works for BMW, that's how he has access to the parts for the robot. the BMW managment at BMW probably saw a great opportunity to get some free
press, and so hosted his site with their ad agency.
and need i add that something of this comlexity would need a HUGE team of professional animators and most likely a year to complete. if someone has
access to BMWs budget see if a sizeable amount of money was allotted to a cg/computer animation department. or, if anyone knows of some type of
agency that tracks the hiring of animators, check with them.
about the bad shadows... the clips are fairly lo res. there is a lot of detail that could account for missing/misdirected shadows. if someone could
persuade the man to release higher res clips we would be in much better shape for a complete analysis. perhaps hidden lights...
about the robots motion: i watched the car stopping clip multiple times and i have come to a tentative conclusion that this man must have
invented/implemented a very new and complex balancing system that constantly adjusts the robots position. it is eerily human. but there is a whole
computer in that thing's chest devoted to balance... otherwise, it is definitely, and without a doubt fake. BUT THIS IS NOT MY FINAL CONCLUSION!
like someone else said, the programming needed to see the car, anticipate its speed and arrival time and brace for impact are very, very
implausible.
also, it would take one man several years of FULL TIME work to develop something like this. i assume this guy has a full time day-job....
i hope to god this thing is real.....