Robotic 'pack mule' displays stunning reflexes

[Jared Moya]

A nimble, four-legged robot is so surefooted it can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick. The machine, which moves like a cross between a goat and a pantomime horse, is being developed as a robotic pack mule for the US military.

BigDog is described by its developers Boston Dynamics as “the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth”. The company have released a new video of the robot negotiating steep slopes, crossing rocky ground and dealing with the sharp kick. View the impressive clip here (28MB Windows media file).

“Internal force sensors detect the ground variations and compensate for them,” says company president and project manager Marc Raibert. “And BigDog's active balance allows it to maintain stability when we disturb it."

This active balance is maintained by four legs, each with three joints powered by actuators and a fourth "springy" joint. All the joints are controlled by an onboard PC processor.


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[Krell]

Does anyone remember my description in the robotic thread where I stated we should build this for rough terrain?



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[The Hunter]

Hopefully that means you will be getting a commission .

[mountain_rage]

Now im all for technology and all but why pay a bunch of money for a robot when the damn mule itself probably does just as good of a job. When a mule breaks down you just replace it these things will break down and probably cause headaches.

[Psilaxs]

Nope the enemies will never assume some loud ass mechanical Frankenstein is approaching them. With it's twin engine two cycle scream piercing fear into the hearts of terrorists everywhere.

That thing is obnoxiously loud, I understand it is in development, but there is only so much muffling and heat dissipation that you can do to something that is revving over 12,000 rpms.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Robotic 'hooker' displays stunning blowjob. Until I see that I don't give a flip

[nukehella]

Nope the enemies will never assume some loud ass mechanical Frankenstein is approaching them. With it's twin engine two cycle scream piercing fear into the hearts of terrorists everywhere.

That thing is obnoxiously loud, I understand it is in development, but there is only so much muffling and heat dissipation that you can do to something that is revving over 12,000 rpms.

And the EMF is probaly going to be an impossible problem.Even if you can neutralize that you can never get around basic MAD.(metal anomaly detection).So even if this puppy worked it would be like having a belled cat with you while you were stalking mice.

[Krell]

Frankly I see this design as a huge waste of developement dollors.

Do I have to do EVERYTHING MYSELF?




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[Potato]

Krell, are you ever happy?

[Krell]

I am right now remotely working on a million dollors of servers while serving the needs of the the ZP community . . . do I have to build a god damned robot too!

I have a great disdain for waste and mismanagement . . which typically equates to anything "government".

I was thinking of having some potato for lunch, that makes me happy :D




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[.:sp00ky:.]

Not quite what they said robots would look like in the year 2006 but you would look pretty dandy riding on the back of that to work in a cowboy hat *yeeeeehaaaa!*

[Psilaxs]

~~~MAD.(metal anomaly detection).So even if this puppy worked it would be like having a belled cat with you while you were stalking mice.~~~

that is not an issue, the countries we usually like to pick on would not have such detection technologies.

[shawners]

They stole that idea from the movie Wild Wild West.

[Afn]

Anything that is automated and can recover after a swift kick has a million of civilian applications. Think of big dog as the mobility layer, then add tool layers on bigdog's back. If it is automated, and alternative energy powered, tech like this is the kind of tech backbone, or dogbone that is needed in remote areas, including planets and asteriods.

Robotic mining & exploration.


Even if the machines are loud and noisy, but if one of them is blown up, who cares, a million more are ready to fire with no human loss of life. If they travel in packs, the other two rovers would recover and distroy.

Cool technology.

[Krell]

a million more are ready to fire with no human loss of life

You must be speaking of that Utopian world where nanobots just run around naked and pull robots out of their ass in no time.

The reality is, if this is easily targeted and destroyed, its a HUGE waste of money!! They have to be super ninja nimble and have a high weight to strength ratio, not like these Legoblock rejects posted here.



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