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."

Comments

Video of the robot

[HoneyBunchesOfGoats]

http://www.bostondynamics.com.nyud.net:8090/dist/B igDog_Feb-26-2006.wmv Put through the Coral CDN, just in case.

The robot looks fairly hilarious when it walks, since it moves a lot like two biped robots (imitating the motion of human legs) facing each other. The whining mechanical noise is also pretty funny, since it sounds like a mechanical goat. However, it does withstand the kick pretty impressively.

Dimensionless, fucktard

[pkhuong]

see topic.

A "gradient of one in two" is a dimensionless ratio. A slope is the mathematical slope in %, which, again, is a dimensionless ratio.