ARTEMIS, a Soccer-playing Humanoid Robot, Is Ready for the Pitch

A full-sized humanoid robot named ARTEMIS moves through a school lab after mechanical engineers students at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering developed a first of its kind robot in Los Angeles, California, US, April 13, 2023. (Reuters)
A full-sized humanoid robot named ARTEMIS moves through a school lab after mechanical engineers students at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering developed a first of its kind robot in Los Angeles, California, US, April 13, 2023. (Reuters)
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ARTEMIS, a Soccer-playing Humanoid Robot, Is Ready for the Pitch

A full-sized humanoid robot named ARTEMIS moves through a school lab after mechanical engineers students at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering developed a first of its kind robot in Los Angeles, California, US, April 13, 2023. (Reuters)
A full-sized humanoid robot named ARTEMIS moves through a school lab after mechanical engineers students at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering developed a first of its kind robot in Los Angeles, California, US, April 13, 2023. (Reuters)

Watch out, Lionel Messi. ARTEMIS is here.

Standing at 4 feet, 8 inches tall (142 centimeters) and weighing 85 pounds (38 kg), ARTEMIS is a first-of-its-kind robot that University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) mechanical engineers developed, and it is ready for the pitch.

Using cutting edge technology, ARTEMIS, which stands for Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability, can maintain its balance against heavy kicks and shoves, withstand objects being thrown at it and is capable of running. But what sets ARTEMIS apart on top of that is its ability to kick a ball.

"If your robot cannot even play a game of soccer, how would you be able to use these robots for more important things, such as saving people's lives?" said Dennis Hong, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at UCLA, which developed ARTEMIS.

The technologies used for soccer playing robots are also being used for other applications like firefighting and disaster relief, said Hong.

While ARTEMIS may not be at the next FIFA World Cup, Hong's team will be unveiling its full soccer capabilities at RoboCup in Bordeaux, France, in July.

The robot’s major innovation is that the engineers custom-designed its actuators — devices that generate motion from energy — to behave like biological muscles. They are springy and force-controlled, rather than the rigid, position-controlled actuators that most robots have.

ARTEMIS’ actuators are also unique in that they are electrically driven, rather than controlled by hydraulics. That means it is quieter and operates more efficiently, while also being cleaner, because hydraulic systems are notorious for leaking fluids.

RoMeLa student Justin Quan said his personal goal is engineering robots that improve people's lives.

"Seeing these robots helping push the robot technology to that next level is really rewarding because you're like, oh, the dream, it gets closer," he said.



Amazon Offers Free Computing Power to AI Researchers, Aiming to Challenge Nvidia

(FILES) This picture taken on July 4, 2022 shows the logo of Amazon, a major online shopping company, displayed at Amazon Amagasaki Fulfillent Center in Amagasaki, Hyogo prefecture. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on July 4, 2022 shows the logo of Amazon, a major online shopping company, displayed at Amazon Amagasaki Fulfillent Center in Amagasaki, Hyogo prefecture. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
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Amazon Offers Free Computing Power to AI Researchers, Aiming to Challenge Nvidia

(FILES) This picture taken on July 4, 2022 shows the logo of Amazon, a major online shopping company, displayed at Amazon Amagasaki Fulfillent Center in Amagasaki, Hyogo prefecture. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken on July 4, 2022 shows the logo of Amazon, a major online shopping company, displayed at Amazon Amagasaki Fulfillent Center in Amagasaki, Hyogo prefecture. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Amazon.com's cloud computing unit on Tuesday said it will offer free computing power to researchers who want to use its custom artificial intelligence chips, aiming to challenge Nvidia's popularity among those researchers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) said it will offer credits to use its cloud data centers that it values at $110 million to researchers who want to tap Trainium, its chip for developing artificial intelligence models that competes with chips from Nvidia, as well as Advanced Micro Devices and Alphabet's cloud division.

AWS said researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, Berkeley, are taking part in the program. The company plans to make 40,000 of the first-generation Trainium chips available for the program, Reuters reported.

The move comes as AWS, still the largest cloud computing company by sales, has seen a sharp challenge from Microsoft as software developers look to harness new types of chips for AI work. AWS is hoping to gain attention for its own AI chips by taking a different strategy than Nvidia, said Gadi Hutt, who leads business development for the AI chips at AWS.

To program Nvidia's chips, most AI developers use what is called Cuda, Nvidia's flagship software, rather than programming the chip directly. AWS instead plans to publish documentation about the most fundamental part of its chip - what is called the instruction set architecture - and let customers program the chip directly.

Hutt said the approach is aimed at luring large customers who might want to make small tweaks that could add up to big gains when using tens of thousands of chips at a time.

"Think about folks that are using infrastructure and putting hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more" toward rented computing power, Hutt said. "They would take any opportunity possible to increase performance and reduce the cost."