Logo: University of Southern California

NEWS ROUND-UP: Athena in the Air

Athena the robot flies from Los Angeles to Germany like a regular passenger
By: Regina Wu
January 12, 2015 —

 

Athena the robot flew on a commercial airline like a regular passenger, traveling from Los Angeles to Germany in an economy-class seat. Athena is a new bipedal humanoid robot designed for use in rough terrain, with a view towards emergency and disaster response situations. The robot was initially developed under funding from the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) in a joint project between Sarcos Inc., a company specializing in innovative robotic designs, and the labs under USC Viterbi computer science professors Laurent Itti and Stefan Schaal. Later, funding for the project was provided by the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany, a collaborating institute of Schaal’s, which became Athena’s final home.

Below is a sampling of recent of media articles about Athena's travels from USC to Germany.

Reuters-Logo

A humanoid robot with a head, hands and feet and wearing stylish red sneakers boarded a flight for Germany at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, becoming what was billed as the first robot traveling as a paid passenger on an airline. (View article)

You'd think as the first robot to fly commercial, Athena would at least be in first class; instead, she boarded her flight at Los Angeles International Airport with everyone else in economy. (View article)

In a first, a robot boarded a commercial airline flight at Los Angeles International Airport. Called "Athena," she's clearly a discerning robot — she's flying Lufthansa. Athena was accompanied by two scientists who are transporting her to Germany. (View article)

Here's a new gripe you can expect to hear from airline passengers in the coming years: The robot next to me is hogging the armrest. (View article)

A humanoid robot with a head, hands and feet and wearing stylish red sneakers boarded a flight for Germany at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, becoming what was billed as the first robot traveling as a paid passenger on an airline. (View article)

It’s quite common for celebrities to cause a stir as they board flights in Los Angeles, but a very different kind of passenger excited paps at the airport today. Athena became the first humanoid robot to have paid for a seat on a passenger plane when it boarded a Lufthansa flight to Germany. (View article)

When airline passenger Athena recently arrived at Los Angeles Airport for an international flight, she caused quite a stir, not because she was a celebrity (which happens often at this airport), but because she is a robot, the first humanoid version of her kind to pay for an airline ticket. (View article)

 

The robots are coming … and they’re flying economy class. Researchers from USC checked a human-size robot onto a flight departing from Los Angeles International Airport on Monday to save money on shipping costs. (View article)

 

Travelling from Los Angeles to Frankfurt onboard of Lufthansa flight LH 457, the passenger arrived on December 16, at 11.05 a.m. with no signs of jet lag: this was no ordinary holidaymaker, after all, but the first humanoid robot to take up a seat on a commercial flight. And despite causing quite a stir when boarding the plane in Los Angeles, Athena, dressed in a T-shirt and fetching red shoes, received no special treatment: like most of us, she flew economy class. (View article)

 

There is no free lunch in this world, and neither are there free seats on a plane – not unless you happen to own the airline itself, or are somehow in a position where such perks are afforded to you. While humans are the ones who would fly in the cabin of an airplane, how awkward do you think it would be if a robot were to be seated right next to you instead? (View article)

 

The robots are coming … and they’re flying economy class. Researchers from USC checked a human-size robot onto a flight departing from Los Angeles International Airport on Monday to save money on shipping costs. (View article)

 

A robot named "Athena" has officially become the first humanoid robot to pay for a seat on a flight. The Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) announced the occasion via Twitter. Their Twitter account said the robot is going from LAX to Germany on a Lufthansa airplane today. (View article)

 

It’s a time when people all over the world are flying home for the holidays and now even a robot is getting in on the act. (View article)