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Military's Robotic Pack Mule Gets $32M Boost

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 1, 2010 @12:14PM from the now-to-develop-a-muffler dept.

coondoggie sends word that Boston Dynamics, maker of the BigDog robot we have been following for a while, has just been awarded a $32M DARPA contract to produce robotic "pack dogs" for the military. "What kind of robot will automatically follow a leader, carry 400 lbs. (182 kg) of military gear, walk 20 miles in all manner of weather, and go 24 hours without refueling? Well, we might soon find out as DARPA has awarded a $32 million contract to build its Legged Squad Support System (LS3) which uses sensors and a GPS to walk along with soldiers across all manner of terrain in any weather without pulling any muscles."

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Fuck that... by Kratisto · 2010-02-01 12:17 · Score: 5, Funny

Cast Tensor's Floating Disk!

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Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
Re:Money well spent? by MichaelSmith · 2010-02-01 12:50 · Score: 5, Funny

Can you eat a robot?

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http://michaelsmith.id.au
If I had NASA's resources... by Snufu · 2010-02-01 13:27 · Score: 5, Funny

I'd build some good robot ass too.
Re:Money well spent? by Culture20 · 2010-02-01 13:45 · Score: 5, Funny

Can you put a mule on standby?
That's the default. Waking from standby is the trick.
Re:Money well spent? by zippyspringboard · 2010-02-01 13:50 · Score: 5, Funny

Yeah really, just add some kevlar body armor, a camera, blinders, and a remote controlled stick with a carrot on the end of it!
Re:Money well spent? by Ihmhi · 2010-02-01 15:18 · Score: 4, Funny

Am I the only one would would like to hop on the thing like a pony and ride it to work every day?
Plus, I could set it to "Terrorize H.R. Mode" and pick it up at the end of the day.

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Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)