Movie Magic Meets Practical Robotics for Netflix’s The Electric State
Mar 14, 2025
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Dennis Hong, a professor at UCLA and director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory, shares his passion for robotics inspired by Star Wars. He discusses the fascinating creation of Cosmo, the robot from The Electric State, highlighting the blend of practical robotics and Hollywood imagination. Hong delves into innovative robot designs, including a unique helium balloon concept, and addresses the challenges of integrating AI with these robots. He also celebrates the life-enhancing potential of robotics while reflecting on its ethical implications.
Dennis Hong emphasizes the intricate balance between aesthetics and functionality in designing entertainment robots like Cosmo for movies.
He envisions a future where humanoid robots assist in daily tasks, highlighting their importance in disaster response scenarios.
Deep dives
The Journey to Robotics
The podcast features Dennis Hong, a robotics expert whose passion for robotics was ignited at a young age by movies like Star Wars. He recounts how iconic characters such as C-3PO and R2-D2 inspired his journey to become a robot scientist. Hong now leads the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA, where he creates various robots, from humanoids to novel contraptions like climbing and jumping machines. His work emphasizes the importance of blending creativity and engineering to push the boundaries of what robots can achieve, especially in entertainment.
Challenges in Creating Entertainment Robots
Hong discusses the challenges of designing Cosmo, a custom robot for the movie 'The Electric State,' highlighting the differences between functional and entertainment robots. While practical robots are created for specific tasks, entertainment robots require the embodiment of personality and character, which is harder to quantify and achieve. He shared how designing Cosmo required balancing aesthetics with functionality, as the character's design posed practical walking challenges. Moreover, the team had to innovate within a tight deadline, integrating components into a compact body while ensuring it captured the essence of the character.
The Future of Humanoid Robots
Hong articulates the significance of humanoid robots, explaining that they are designed to navigate human environments and perform tasks that require human-like form and dexterity. He envisions a future where robots assist in daily activities, emphasizing that their form must align with their functional requirements. Disaster response robots also fall within this scope, as exemplified by a robot developed for use in emergencies like nuclear plant accidents. His work with humanoid robots aims to enhance their interaction with humans, making them relatable and capable of performing a variety of tasks.
Dennis Hong, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, discovered a love of robots at an early age while watching the “droid” characters in Star Wars. As director of the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory at U.C.L.A., Hong has worked on functional humanoid robots for tasks such as firefighting and disaster relief. Then the Russo brothers came calling. To promote their new Netflix movie The Electric State, film directors Anthony and Joseph Russo wanted to move beyond CGI and create a version of the lead robot, Cosmo, for events. Hong joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss the challenges of blending practical robotics with a Hollywood vision.
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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses, Emily Makowski and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.