Baymax: When Do I Get One?

Baymax is Hiro's best friend!
Image Source
Big Hero 6-- now an Academy Award Winning film-- was one of my favorite movies of 2014. It’s positive messages and super cute characters made for a really good pick-me-up movie (...if you can get through some of the sad bits in the first half of the film). What absolutely makes the movie is the protagonist's robotic friend Baymax. This is definitely a feel-good movie that leaves you wanting your own personal robot sidekick.

Baymax is a medical assistance robot who looks like a giant fluffy cloud. He’s inflatable, gives great hugs, and is generally awesome in a million ways. What’s really cool about Baymax, though, is that he was based off of a real robotic arm being developed by a Carnegie Mellon robotics team lead by robotics expert Christ Atkeson. This team is working on inflatable robots with a flexible inner skeleton. These robots will be perfect for the medical world-- their softness will reduce the risk of accidentally injuring patients. A video of the team and its project is below!

Robots are becoming increasingly important in the technological world-- especially in health care.  One of the most convenient features of a soft, inflatable robot is it’s portability. Head researcher explains that “inflatable robots could be exceptionally portable - something that could be stowed in a backpack, for instance, or launched into space as a small package.” It’s light and easy to take with you on the go.


This is Atkeson's team's inflated robotic arm that
inspired Baymax. Image Source
Imagine going camping with your family. Instead of carrying a first aid kit in case of emergency, imagine having a full-fledged robotic nurse to help out inside of your backpack! While this type of tech still seems to be in the far future, the specialists say that it could happen in the next two generations. My grandchildren could have their own Baymax!
One of my absolute favorite aspects of science fiction is the possibility of pieces of it “coming true.” When you read or watch sci-fi, you get a little preview of technology that could be in the future. This doesn’t always work out-- flying cars are one of the most famously complained about-- but some of them do. Right now there is a race to create a real-life Tricorder from Star Trek-- a device that can tell us all kinds of data about our surroundings.


So maybe I’ll be able to have my own Baymax someday.


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