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Robotic 'Pack Mule' with Impressive Reflexes
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."
Well for one... nobody can get a multimillion dollar contract to develop a live mule.
Nice robodonkey.
WHERE'S OSAMA?
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make install -not war
Don't bother having it mine for crystite in the river valley, remember to have it make enough energy to power itself and the rest of your empire, and make sure to take care when installing it so it doesn't run off....
I'd love to be the guy whose job it is to kick the multimillion dollar piece of equipment to see if i can knock it over.
Impressive sense of balance (the second kick in the video where it uses an almost simian method to get it's feet back under it is amazing). That's quite a step forward for robotics, though it's not particularly practical as a pack-mule alternative *yet*.
However, that thing desperately needs a muffler--is anybody else having flashbacks to "Dumb and Dumber"?
"Hey, you guys want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?"
I hear that if you spray chemicals on the mule, it becomes a synthetic mule and you can get a tax break.
That's no Mule.
That's an AT-AT.
A few of the brothers in the Pack Animals Union chapter 107 would like a word with you, Mister "I-can-see-a-whole-lot-of-applications-where-a-liv e-animal-wouldn't-be-as-useful."