Robotic 'Pack Mule' with Impressive Reflexes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on Friday March 3, 2006 @04:20PM from the robo-horse dept.

moon_monkey writes "New Scientist has a story about a nimble, four-legged robot that can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick." From the article: "The project is sponsored by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), who want the robotic pack mule to assist soldiers in terrain too tough for vehicles. Ground-based soldiers often need to carry 40 kilograms of equipment. Raibert says the latest version of BigDog can handle slopes of 35 - a steeper gradient than one in two. The hydraulics are driven by a two-stroke single-cylinder petrol engine, and it can carry over 40 kg, about 30% of its bodyweight. The robot can follow a simple path on its own, or can be remotely controlled."

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If you were my student, I'd fail you by MustardMan · 2006-03-03 16:28 · Score: 0, Flamebait

Units, people, units! "A slope of 35" is almost as useless as "steeper gradient than one in two".

One in two what? Come on, it's not that hard to put some units in there and remove any ambiguity. This is a general interest board, and your terminology is far from clear, especially given that this is a US-centric site and you seem to be using a more UK-like slang.