Posted on 08/07/2008 5:40:40 AM PDT by SpinnerWebb
The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system.
BigDog's legs are articulated like an animals, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.
Video at link.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostondynamics.com ...
-ping-
Cool! Especially the part where the man kicks it in the side and it recovers its balance!!
a little up-armor and some weaponry and we may have something there!
It lets a guy shove it around and it doesn't fight back.
I saw this awhile ago, it is still amazing but, what would our speaker do with the gas engine powering it - that is one heck of a carbon footprint not to mention no quiet walks in the forest or sneaking up on the enemy.
VERY cool!
Imagine 30,000 of those coming over the sand dunes into Iran with one mission, find Ahmadinejad.
That was the best part. When the dude kicked the robot, it still managed to balance itself. The sound is annoying though..like a big fly is stuck in the speakers.
What does that mean? Nothing new????
It was a joke. Check out the video at the link I provided.
Too bad it’s diesel-powered and hydraulic. Too much reliance on petroleum products. The designers had better start looking into alternatives like switchgrass or wind or this projects is DOA.
If they could get it to gallop it might be worth looking into.
I’m cry’n. LOL.
Very impressive. That noise means no stealth missions though.
Portable power is the great missing piece of our day.
LOL....I was thinking the same thing...if that guy had done that to my old Shep, he'd have been the one walking around on a robotic leg!
~ROTFLMAO~
/johnny
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.