BigDog Goes To War

Richard · 05-11-2011, 08:53

Boston Dynamics' walking bots take a load off soldiers' backs.

I guess soldiers need something to reduce their load with all the body armor being added nowadays. Kinda creepy looking, though.

And so it goes...

Richard

BigDog Goes To War
Forbes, 4 May 2011

Boston Dynamics has never been kind to BigDog. In YouTube videos that have racked up 18 million views, the robotics firm sets its four-legged, 235-pound, deer-size automaton climbing over rocks, slipping on ice and stumbling through mud. In some clips a technician kicks the bot to show that it can recover its footing. Marc Raibert, the company's president, says he gets letters telling him to stop abusing the robots. "Other companies build these things and are afraid to scratch them," he says. "We beat the crap out of ours, and they get tougher."

Boston Dynamics' machines, after all, are intended for war. The average American soldier carries as much as 145 pounds in the field, and the Pentagon wants to shift that load to machines. Boston Dynamics' latest quadruped, the LS3, aims to carry 400 pounds of materiel over 20 miles of rough terrain. It earned the contractor $33 million from Darpa, the Pentagon's out-there research arm. "Our goal is to develop robots with legs that have the mobility and agility of animals," says Raibert. An LS3 will cost more than $100,000.

Raibert spent a total of 15 years at Carnegie Mellon and at MIT, where he ran the groundbreaking "leg lab." The technology developed there allows for what he calls "dynamic stability." Most quadruped robots move slowly and keep three feet on the ground. But Boston Dynamics' bots, akin to walking or running humans, are constantly tipping, falling and regaining balance. The LS3 uses a gyroscopic sensor near the head and force and position sensors on each leg to maintain balance in motion.

Boston Dynamics will apply that same dynamic stability to Atlas, a headless humanoid that can walk on two legs, squeeze sideways through narrow spaces or crawl on its hands and feet. It's also working on Cheetah, a four-legged bot that the company says will run at 20mph when it appears in late 2012.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/05...-goes-war.html

tonyz · 05-11-2011, 09:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard

robotics firm sets its four-legged, 235-pound, deer-size automaton climbing over rocks, slipping on ice and stumbling through mud.

Bet that sucker burns through a shit load of Surefire 123A's.

plato · 05-11-2011, 17:31

$100,000 buys a sh*tload of good dirt bikes.

Mini-guns and rocket pods sold separately.

wildelectric · 05-19-2011, 13:26

climbing over rocks, slipping on ice and stumbling through mud. .

So its doing what I did through nearly my entire tour in Bosnia. But probably with more style.

05-19-2011, 13:50

Kind of noisy,....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJJQ0zNNOM

I've got a good horse rope in the truck.

MtnGoat · 05-19-2011, 13:57

I think the Military needs to look at Dockey's alot cheaper and each country has "their" kind of mules or dockeys for pack animals period.

DRAPA - things that comes out of there.

Quote:

Kind of noisy,....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHJJQ0zNNOM

I've got a good horse rope in the truck.

Yeah just a bit you think??

05-19-2011, 13:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtnGoat

I think the Military needs to look at Dockey's alot cheaper and each country has "their" kind of mules or dockeys for pack animals period.

DRAPA - things that comes out of there.

Ya, and a $100,000 would buy alot of food, grain, medical supplies and education for children.

JSMosby · 05-19-2011, 14:06

I think this is a sure sign of things to come. The evolution of soldier systems has advanced exponentially and technology is not slowing down. Besides, the guy who can deploy soldiers with no casualties will maintain popular support. Just last week a paraplegic walked across the stage at Berkley using a robotic "exoskeleton." It just a matter of time before troops start getting similar exoskeletons capable of supporting heavy armor, comms, ammo, and other heavy stuff.

Personally, I think it's cool as hell.

edit.... was gonna add a snide JSOC comment ;0

wildelectric · 05-19-2011, 14:34

It just a matter of time before troops start getting similar exoskeletons capable of supporting heavy armor, comms, ammo, and other heavy stuff.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/art...ets-more-juice

alelks · 05-19-2011, 15:03

I say we turbo charge those suckers, add some more agility, equip them like this and put them out along the southern border of the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptyV1...eature=related

Also the guys that will be controlling them could develop PTSD if they aren't careful. To help combat this we could drop the Big Dog on a secluded beach and they and the Big Dog could get some rest and relaxation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0s7a...feature=relmfu