How Disney Designed a Robotic Spider-Man | WIRED

The stunts we love to watch in movies like 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' usually rely on a combination of green screen, stunt performers, and computer-generated models. Stunts like these can be dangerous, especially when performed live...over and over. At the new Avengers Campus at Disneyland Resorts, radical stunts are being performed everyday by a robotic acrobat. Disney Imagineers Tony Dohi and Morgan Pope sit down with WIRED to talk about how they designed this amazing stuntronic robot.
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[@grimzler]

A moment of silence for all those people who saw this live in Disneyland and thought the Spiderman was a professional circus performer.

[@meganhirschi6248]

Have to admit, I only saw a tiny bit of this performance when I went this summer and had no idea until now.

[@123allskate]

It looks stiff but I think it’s most likely because this is a close up shot haha

[@ToaPohatuNuva]

A moment of silence for all the people who saw this stunt show live, but could barely see anything because the sight lines are awful

[@Henrique2801xbox]

A moment of silence? This is way cooler!

[@stare4539]

Yooo

[@akcromwell]

I love that their names are Morgan and Tony, feels very fitting

[@maximus7522]

Exactly, exactly, coincidence, I think not

[@xpanse]

Who's Morgan?

[@jimothyjames8718]

@@xpanse tony's daughter

[@sankarsekhor5537]

@@xpanse Morgan Stark.

[@christineellana6545]

🤗🤗

[@rarvind2]

That's the type of robot i imagine when someone talks about robots taking over the world...

[@7of9]

Yeah, just get some AI learning and Neurolink into that thing and we're in big trouble in 5 years.

[@rarvind2]

@@7of9 yup maybe But i don't think we humans will make something that is going to backfire to us But who knows USA may do it??

[@AwkwardYet]

@@rarvind2 humans are dumb enough to make something that backfires

[@AiladnamNiaz]

@@queennara2045 sorry what

[@xavierxtreme]

Hahaha, I do have a thought like that, too but then, I thought, this one doesn't have any superior AI in it, so, no problem 😂

[@seismixx]

2:44 I like how they said "a lot of screws" together, that's a bro moment right there

[@urbainleverrier1]

They share the same brain cells

[@paulborst4724]

Eiffel tower.

[@EBTS-3]

innit haha

[@mushieslushie]

They have spent a lot of time screwing.

[@silly_on_]

Certified bruh moment

[@ishraqtalukder4518]

Pretty surprising how cool we get robots who can literally be so Spider-Man.

[@cyruswong._.2809]

@@queennara2045 go away bot

[@Mybasedworld]

Eh

[@erennotsoyeager3806]

@@queennara2045 sorry i don't eat dead apples

[@infinityslayer5784]

Just hope they dont make ultron

[@lodhwalsanjay9811]

#TheEliteSoldier 👌 kzbin.info/www/bejne/onLUaJisjc2XY7M

[@daromo1000]

I went to college with Morgan. He is one of the smartest (obviously) and nicest guys in the whole world. So happy to see him having success at the happiest place on Earth.

[@WalnutAnimations]

Nice

[@SuperRamtin]

Woah!

[@stealthystudios4129]

i went to college with the rock and robert downey jr!

[@MrPlayDay]

@@stealthystudios4129 doubter yikes, why would he lie about going to college with someone who made a robot? It’s not exactly unlikely that some who went to your college ends up being successful

[@JuanFlorezRacing]

i went to college with bill gates

[@sneekypanda]

In an alternate universe, Peter Parker was never Spider-Man because Tony Spark created a robot version of Spider-Man.

[@ryancarballo5368]

Kinda old school like how the original Human Torch before Fantastic 4 existed was a robot.

[@dajanala]

Also in said alternate universe, Tony Spark dresses much more flamboyantly than his "original universe" counterpart, Tony Stark.

[@Donbros]

Would like to see that in spiderverse now

[@trimeresuruspurpureomaculatus]

And Tony Spark is a Cybertronian.

[@Glider5858]

Tony Spark lmao 😂

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Imagine the chaos if the robot overshoots and crashes on the floor. OMG SPIDER-MAN IS DEAD!

[@cory99998]

*Starts mechanically convulsing*

[@cory99998]

@Spiderman 0_0

[@ulquiorralc4296]

Robot: My Back! Ohh! My Back!

[@HirstMovies]

I have a feeling this will happen in a year or so and it’ll be in the news reports 😂😂

[@themilkman3737]

It would be sitting there twitching, trying to do the moves but instead just rolling around on the floor

[@TylerVossler]

This level of engineering is magic. I was really convinced that this was a real stuntman. So much so that when someone told me it was a robotic animatronic I scoffed at it. So impressive!

[@CecilMathew]

Yup I scoffed at my teenage son many times since the moment we saw this stunt two weeks ago and he told me it was a robot.

[@RestlessDeveloper]

@@CecilMathew am I the only kid here? Because I see so many old people.

[@dangeldoll]

I was expecting they would put cameras in the "eye"-space of the robot -so we would have a real capture experience of how spiderman see's the world while swinging around a VR experience like that would be great

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

then they would have to throw the throwbot in a cinematic environment, which is kinda impossible because there would always be the throwing, catching and camera stuff around.

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Their objective was to do motion capper for a movie, not design a VR game. They weren't paid to do the latter.

[@noone-hd1ck]

@@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin there's a difference between "designing a literal vr game" and just "attaching small camera to the eye". If you dont know even that, a little education would be good for you

[@SevenZeroEleven]

There are VR experiences, and you also have scenes in the TASM series (TASM trailer and TASM 2 opening) where they have a first person view of how Spidey feels. Homecoming had a short VR experience aswell I believe

[@xxDxxism]

Ima vomit if there was such a thing. Spiderman swings & flips like a maniac

[@dominic2534]

A kid at the park: “It’s the neighborhood Spider-Man” Robot Spider-Man: “I’m peace of our time” Parent: 👀

[@johnathanmclane1468]

There ain't no strings on me

[@Menaceblue3]

The world's most valuable metal and they use it for a frisbee

[@untiecries9174]

@@Menaceblue3 typical of humans

[@Idiocy_JJ]

@@johnathanmclane1468 Other than the one that throws it in the air

[@lodhwalsanjay9811]

#TheEliteSoldier 👌 kzbin.info/www/bejne/onLUaJisjc2XY7M

[@karenhipp7785]

I saw this at Disneyland a couple of months ago with my daughter and her family. When she told me it was a robot, I was blown away. I studied art in college, drawing human anatomy, been in design my entire life and was mesmerized at how fluid and human-like this robot appeared. The creativity, the engineering, the physics, everything. Humans have such incredible minds it's just such a shame it's not ALWAYS put to good use. Imagine if it was!! Phenomenal show! And, being 3 stories above me, I had no problem at all with seeing everything. Certainly a highlight for me at Disneyland!

[@IstanaAnginWorldwide]

Robot falls onto people Disney: We are trying to capture how clumsy being Spiderman can be.

[@schrimblo]

well uhh

[@thomasford2032]

I could see these robots being used in actual movies as a more believable alternative to replacing actors with CGI for dangerous stunts. It could really be ground breaking.

[@rsdillbot3646]

Not just that. But think a hulk robot not just for stunts. Or a robot rocket who says the lines for actors to play off with.

[@ashgaming7045]

Tell that to Tom Cruise! I rather see him do his own stunts vs. a robot

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@ashgaming7045 I'd like to never see a robot take over any role of the ones we need to have for ourselves.

[@kizzy7539]

I wonder if that would be more expensive and time consuming than just using CGI

[@RobAlfieInostrozaLindley]

I would think so​@@kizzy7539

[@markhollas7585]

"Only just scratched the surface" they say after creating a robot that can mimic Spider-man aerial aerobatics...

[@dannybenhur6123]

I know Mechatronics, Avionics but never thought I would hear Stuntronics.

[@nfleddy]

what about subtronics lololol

[@chocolateblocks]

The fact that the human civilisation is already coming up with such advanced things already like this shows us that we could quite some incredible things in the future. Perhaps even in just a couple of years we'd have a lot of robots similar to these or even better.

[@oneoranota]

Now the truth : at current state of technology, robots are weak. Moving through the air is easy, but we won't get decent humanoid robots before maybe a hundred years. The future is drones.

[@chocolateblocks]

@@oneoranota ok :)

[@LegoLoos2006]

@@oneoranota have you seen Boston dynamics? Now they aren't perfect but they are almost there.

[@hexagonal707]

Humans are the problem

[@Futurebound_jpg]

Lol if we don’t kill our planet first maybe

[@AllPersonalNothingBusiness]

Some of these folks really earn the money they make. This was awesome

[@360.Tapestry]

this would go a long way to improving stunt dummies in movies lol

[@crocketgsxr6]

real stunt people are cheaper

[@madhatman9166]

Not if you factor in insurance costs.

[@MOMOFCJ6]

@@PXO005 and if you get one a studio could just get like multiple and use them across movies

[@fluffymonkeyyy6617]

@Joel Criter Not every single studio will need/want a stunt robot

[@lodhwalsanjay9811]

#TheEliteSoldier 👌 kzbin.info/www/bejne/onLUaJisjc2XY7M

[@Peyton_S]

Their names are Tony and Morgan, I’m totally not crying right now 🥲

[@Batt-man]

Why would anyone cry

[@radboyrandom1976]

@@Batt-man do you have no heart? Or do you have a short term memory?

[@ItsNolifeluis]

@@Batt-man tony is iron mans name and morgan is iron mans daughter

[@Littlesaintfortnite]

Wow ur a nerd

[@NFSSAM]

I'm crying because this was something that Grant Imahara was working on.

[@ItsJessEdits]

I wrote a paper in college when these stunt robots were first coming out and now I finally know what they’re used for! What a cool thing to see.

[@Gibbslx]

I would love to see them apply this tech to movies, cgi has come a very very long way but nothing will ever beat practical effects. That's the reason T2 came out 30 years ago and still looks better than most action movies today

[@luizchagasjardim]

I would love to hear more about the math and physics they used. Sounds like a good fit for lagrangian mechanics, but then when you get wind maybe you also have to look through a fluid mechanics point of view, and then I can see things getting crazy really fast. Do they have a simulation environment to test stuff or do they go trial-and-error?

[@errhka]

if you go to the disney research channel they have a video on it

[@luizchagasjardim]

@@errhka I'll check it out. Thanks.

[@JsYTA]

I can only imagine how much labor went into the code. I'm sure Disney's funding and years of engineering experience in the robotics industry helped, but I can only imagine what it took to get the robot to where it is today

[@wheal2825]

@@_no_9671 about the beagle

[@vectoralphaAI]

they said trial and error so a lot of failure.

[@NoobryYT]

F in the chat for spiderman back after the crash...

[@Mike__B]

Too bad Disney didn't put this kind of attention to detail and creativity in the rest of Avengers campus.

[@damn8648]

Spiderman is owned by Sony so I'm guessing there a part of this

[@wavedotwav]

im pretty sure people only go to avengers campus for spider man, everything else in it is so lame and guardians has been there beforehand (and is literally just the tower of terror reskinned). you can't even go into the avengers hq

[@wesleyhanson4564]

The webslinger ride is pretty amazing, but I agree that the rest is a tad underwhelming. It is not as good as Galaxy's Edge for sure.

[@NoJusticeNoPeace]

How many other people got this video recommended to them immediately after watching a news report about the robot smashing into a wall and falling?

[@RobotChad]

lol was looking for this comment

[@tatie7604]

It could have killed someone if it landed on them. Did anyone consider that one? Nobody needs this crap. Can easily do without the movie.

[@bdpickett]

These guys just became Mysterio IRL.

[@nucleardummy]

Ultron as Spiderman is a great "What if...." episode

[@GodlyToonz]

And it’s made by Tony too

[@Karideplov]

I love videos like this and the content of behind the attraction and imagineering story on Disney+. Imagine how many children today are watching these shows and are being inspired to study physics and become engineers. I wish I had these things as a child instead of some boring old math and physics teachers that didn’t teach me anything. Good job Disney…looking for your future cast members early.

[@projekttaku1]

😄

[@jaimemonreal7878]

You can tell these guys love their jobs. It’s great to see.

[@timbit3830]

No one gonna talk about how their names are Tony and Morgan?

[@scube8614]

No

[@danielawesome36]

They love their jobs 3000.

[@coolguy082]

Literally everyone is

[@garettgraf6139]

Anyone else here in 2022 after that video of the robot swinging and crashing went viral?

[@mel-uy2lw]

Wait it did?!?

[@garettgraf6139]

@@mel-uy2lw yep

[@wasgood_lp]

Imagine if that robot comes to life and we’ll have an actual spider man

[@arthurpendragon8192]

a spiderman very dependent on someone else throwing them and having a net to catch them. not very useful to stop crime or save people :/

[@xxDxxism]

Hello Skynet

[@shivansh3387]

Sounds like the age of ultron is near

[@ScionStorm1]

Impossible. It would have to be a _man_ for that.

[@salvit6024]

@@ScionStorm1 thats very anti-robot of you

[@josephg2972]

Until it crashes on the side of a roof.

[@cobblestonegenerator2183]

Oh good, it was a robot. I remember getting broadway Spider-Man based panic attacks watching that stunt happen.

[@coolguy082]

I’m sorry, WHAT IS BROADWAY SPIDER MAN

[@waynejamel6703]

@@coolguy082 they had a Spiderman Broadway musical. It was pretty cool. But the original version apparently had a lot of accidents. I believe it held the record for most injuries in a Broadway play. Stunts were cool though.

[@ktbae]

So cool!! If I saw this 5 years ago I would’ve thought it was an April fools prank. The technology moves so quickly 🥵

[@MadDogHoek23]

Amazing! I can imagine how cool it would look to see multiple characters flying through the air in different poses.

[@elmergloo3259]

This level of engineering is way more interesting than watching movies

[@lewisvang3908]

2 days ago was my first time at Disneyland and i saw this live. Im still shook the fact that they can make a robot do this!!! Loved everything about it’

[@MrBoubource]

I'm a student in applied maths engineering, and this is wonderful!

[@crubbythebeagle57]

cute beagle kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2bUY6eJas6HhZo kzbin.info/www/bejne/p56xh6t6nJyWrcU kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJ3Eh2uJpdOFetE -.-.-.-

[@paulleimer1218]

I'm not and this is wonderful!

[@SynysterGoose]

Just watch the video where it hit the side of the building 😂

[@1ofHenrysMen]

Can not wait to see how this all turns out when they perfect it.

[@janelm7645]

i LOVE watching how excited these guys get talking about physics, especially Morgan :,)

[@AkashSamanta-pp1xt]

The fact that so much research and effort goes behind making a few hour long movie is Mind-blowing. They should be given big credits.Kudos!

[@deeznuts23yearsago]

I remember watching test footage years ago and I loved that these robots were created

[@rhysknight8681]

These guys look like they like and respect each other greatly

[@EllyValentini]

I can see Tom accidentally breaking one of these when competing to see who can do more backflips 😱😂

[@HassanPoyo]

Its crazy that we’re at that stage now

[@jhernandez9278]

Seeing it in person is insane! Great job guys!👌🏼🔥🔥

[@ZeeDav]

Bro hopefully this robotic Spider-Man doesn’t crash into a wall or sum…

[@Sox148]

When talent becomes art... 🔝👏

[@Dev-nk8oj]

@Phoenix 𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚢 PROFILE imagine it becomes a villian, like Carnage.

[@Gandi2000]

Now I really want to get into robotics, looks really fun.

[@ChristopherToro]

So they didn't use CGI for the swinging...that's exactly what I want for future Spider-Man movies, technology is incredible!

[@morbiuscrystal4875]

But you love all the CGI shitshow in DC.

[@alexabedwards]

Honestly if I never saw this video, I would still think that’s a real person flying through the sky

[@joelmulder]

So cool to see this being used in a real world application!

[@blue1584]

This is so cool!! The way it moves looks so realistic

[@GamingforNostalgiaForFun]

It's fake 🤥🤥🤥🤥 Disney lied to u

[@lilbmxman6670]

I love that he said the stick object guy thingy "you squint at it it's starts to look like a human" I did exactly so and it freaking does. Lmao

[@wa7saka]

these guys seem so in touch with eachother and they said “a lot of screws“ at the same time

[@branpod]

It's cool seeing all the iterations and versions!

[@BlackBase51]

For me the SONY spiderman movies had the best swingings by milesssss it looks so real also the wind on the suit interacting its mindblowing tbh

[@Imdevinjt24]

The insanity of having robots in 2021 and no one seems to be freaked out😭

[@_Rick___Grimes_]

because we've had robots for over a decade, where you been?

[@jasonparker2552]

What an amazing thing for kids to see. Bravo to these smart creative people keeping the magic alive at Disney!

[@AlonAbraham1]

They are absolutly Genius people to make such an advance robot. Very well done guy's

[@jrpg0630]

All this to make people of all ages happy. Amazing.

[@KillerTacos54]

This is awesome! Thanks for making this video

[@soul-man]

If only they have put in this much of dedication into their story and script writing in their latest movie.

[@nickszune7196]

RIP Grant Imahara. Thank you for this incredible gift

[@JJ-kc2nx]

Okay so now we need miles and peter to team up and defeat this beautiful/terrifying machine

[@TurfZone]

It started with a block.. but they were already seeing the final product… Wow

[@everyonesguy7466]

engineering at it's finest , for the film industry really great to see

[@aifan6148]

Thanks for the treat! 🥳 More Robotics please 🙏😘

[@woncho1]

Going back to old school practical effects! Cool…

[@crubbythebeagle57]

cute beagle kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2bUY6eJas6HhZo kzbin.info/www/bejne/p56xh6t6nJyWrcU kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJ3Eh2uJpdOFetE -.-.-.-

[@joeferguson2187]

If animatronics could go to a next level at disney, this is a good checkpoint.

[@MOMOFCJ6]

A deadpool running animatronic would be cool

[@MOMOFCJ6]

Or wolverine

[@sigurddalgas3164]

Seems like these guys have such good chemistry!

[@Nathan-jv7jw]

I hope they start using this in movies

[@jesselewin2096]

Very creative this is one thing I wish I could make and bring to my show and tell when I was younger

[@TheChiful]

BUT THEN HE DIED 😭😭😭😂😂

[@ftanakasp]

This is amazing, I saw this show live on Disney LA 2 months ago and for me until now it was the stunt double that did it. Now it is more incredible knowing it was a robot. Amazing.

[@viiperbiite]

bro that robot is insanely scary 💀

[@Grey25010]

When you realize that if there is ever a spider-man irl it would actually be spider-robot 😳

[@stiiz22]

This is so awesome! I feel like dropping my life and going to learn Robotics after seeing this 😂

[@alanw64]

Great job - truly amazing accomplishment.

[@Insliderdrifts]

Genuinely the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

[@avtpro]

I would love to hear them break down the physics for animators using A.I. RadDoll DMS DigiStunt Double. I tried studying it for years and they made the most sense. Some of what happens seems unexplainable..

[@jonplaud]

This is how it starts....

[@ListenAlQuran]

What unique , pleasant , respectful & loving dating among video editing .. AMAZINGGGG !!!

[@DoctorNemmo]

I'm pretty sure this was something Grant Imahara was working on before his passing.

[@wesleyhanson4564]

I have seen this live, multiple times, and had no idea. I just always wondered who the incredibly strong, talented, and brave person was that did this stunt. It looks that real!

[@aquariumlife2929]

It just went boom yesterday

[@jeffreykolenchery1872]

This with a pinch of ai could run stuntmen out of business in a few years!

[@srai5333]

they cant do every stunts but for more dangerous ones these robots can be used.

[@360.Tapestry]

@@srai5333 no more limp dummies falling through the air lol

[@SevenZeroEleven]

Not a few years, this robot has a set a somewhat short path to follow that took them a year, you would have to develop these for like a decade to he able to replace stuntmen completely, and even then CG artists will end up just replacing the robot completely rendering them useless for a couple scenes

[@brandonwei2430]

No, it wouldn't

[@lturner7159]

Amazing so now maybe they can capture the real physics and dynamics of Spider-Man swinging and flipping through the air with more accurate camera angles that convey believability with the shadow dynamics in tact as well

[@deionford9215]

This is crazy! I can’t wait to see more!

[@jasdanvm3845]

I wanna see this being implemented in the movies shootings.

[@rsdillbot3646]

Imagine, the future of movies are robots instead of cgi. Things would look more realistic and actors would have better stuff to help with thier preformence.

[@Kurran1998]

This is such a cool concept of doing stunts without using a stunt double. 🤖👍

[@waynejamel6703]

Expensive though

[@ThePandaWarrior]

This is amazing and genius. "If we land in a funny way", recently it did land in a funny way, holding a plank shape and slammed into the building

[@beardedraider4751]

This is absolutely amazing!!! I’m just getting into programming and find this so interesting 👍🏻

[@Eidlones]

You know you've been in a pandemic too long, when you look at this video and pay attention to how awesome their masks are, over the robotics.

[@thatisamazing912]

I love wearing my mask, I will never take it off for the rest of my life.

[@Themistertaco]

Masks never look good

[@dixie7423]

@@Themistertaco right, they never look good..THEY LOOK AWESOME WITH ALL THESE DIFFERENT PATTERNS ON THEM

[@Elmhlawy_]

Andrew : marvel didn't call me

[@plasma84]

I have never thought of a robotic Spider-Man before this is cool

[@makatron]

These mates are just making it easier for skynet

[@BosleyBeats]

This was very impressive and inspiring to me

[@yalta5060]

Yeah