Massachusetts Firm Producing Mind-Blowing Futuristic Robotics

Hollywood and television have long had a love affair with science fiction and robots. Walt Disney's engineers perfected audio-animatronics for the Disney theme parks. Revolutionary for their time, the limited-ability robots appeared amazingly life-like.

The Hall of Presidents and The American Experience are still must-sees at Walt Disney World.

My first robot memories are of The Great Garloo, a battery-powered remote-controlled toy robot that rolled around the floor of my bedroom in the 1960s. He really wasn't so great in that he did very little else.

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The loveable Lost in Space robot, appropriately called "Robot," warmed our hearts, as did "Johnny 5" in the film Short Circuit. There were many quirky and friendly robots but Hollywood doled out some tough cookies, too.

Paste Magazine has a list of the "Best 100 Movie Robots of All Time."

On a recent visit to Las Vegas, I was blown away by the robots featured in The Sphere. Interacting and conversing with these technological marvels was amazing.

What is equally amazing is the robotic research and development being done at Boston Dynamics, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Boston Dynamics, an engineering and robotics design company was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert. The company is a spin-off of the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology (MIT) and is a subsidiary of the Hyundai Motor Company.

Boston Dynamics develops a series of dynamic highly mobile robots, including BigDog, Spot and Atlas. The company has plans to commercialize some of its other, more sophisticated robots.

The company's website says, "With innovation at our core, we're pushing the limits of mobility, dexterity, and intelligence with our next generation of robots."

Some of these inventions must be seen to be believed. The future looks amazing.