Slashdot Mirror
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."
a nimble, four-legged robot that can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick
I'm disappointed, I was looking to see how is this mule going to be kicked, as I'm re-reading The Foundations and am looking for new ways to kick the Mule...
Hijacking the war on the Afghani Taliban to invade Iraq was the worst political con job, the stupidest strategic boondoggle in American history.
On top of everything else, we squandered our one chance to invade a "nonobvious" country: Pakistan, when the Taliban retreated back to their country of origin, under protection of the Pakistani secret police (ISI). Who just happened to be supplying Iraq, N. Korea and Iran with nuclear weapons. Shipped through Dubai. And invading India with terrorists. See the connections? If Bush had done what was necessary after the Qaeda planebombings, he'd have actually been making Pakistan choose between "going straight" or war with the US. Instead, he took us to war with all the other guys. And now we're totally screwed, at least twice over.
Of course those are the reasons given. They're good reasons. The "therefore we invade Iraq" is the product of the non sequitur department over at BushCo.
--
make install -not war