Military's Robotic Pack Mule Gets $32M Boost

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."

Comments

Money well spent?

[phy_si_kal]

Well, the Afghans have mules, that cost nearly 0 and already pass where Humvee's stop. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2009/0504/p22s01-usmi.html

Re:Money well spent?

[TheKidWho]

Mules also happen to have their own logistics costs, are slower, less capable, and can not reach all the same terrains this robot can.

Yes yes, we've all heard the joke, The Soviets used a pencil, NASA spent millions on inventing the space pen. (More of a myth actually, see: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1)

Re:Money well spent?

[Anonymous Coward]

But mules wouldn't line the pocketbooks of various surpanational military-industrial corporations with huge amounts of cash.

Re:Money well spent?

[jlowery]

Oh, come on. Do you think the complexity of these robots won't lead to breakdowns and glitches? And how cheap is it to replace a robot vs. a mule? It would be cheaper to add bionics to the mule.

Re:Money well spent?

[Wyatt Earp]

Was reading about mules in the Italian campaign (1943-44). Compared to a legged vehicle, they suck.

There is the food aspect, vets and language. Yes, an Afghani mule for example will need a mule skinner than can speak the mule's native language, Dari or Pashtun (that covers like 90% of Afghanistan's mules).

And if your mules are killed or if you need more, its easier to airlift in some robots than to train or find more mules.

Re:Money well spent?

[TheKidWho]

Yes, but the robot will get much cheaper over time if they are being purchased and R&D costs are paid. I would much rather see robotics technology pushed forward then provide a handout to mule breeders.

Re:Money well spent?

[Ralph Spoilsport]

What may be less feasible, given current imperial hubris, but is certainly a better solution would be to not go invading other countries. Then the USA wouldn't need the mechanical mules. Or the troops. Or the trillions of dollars blown on the military. And it could afford small tokens of civilisation like universal healthcare, and a renewable energy infrastructure.

Re:Money well spent?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, the Afghans have mules, that cost nearly 0 and already pass where Humvee's stop.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2009/0504/p22s01-usmi.html

If mules cost a $1,000 a piece then what in the hell is the military going to do with 32,000 of them? You've got to think like the military. It makes more sense spending 32 million for one prototype than for 32,000 live mules. There's far less support needed for one robotic mule than 32,000 live ones. Just buy one mule? Then what are they supposed to do with the other $31,999,000.00????? Buying live ones just doesn't make sense.

Re:Money well spent?

[homunq]

Mules run on partly celulosic biofuels, which they convert directly into mechanical energy at the point it's needed. They include advanced elastic shock-absorbers which actually return energy for the power stroke. They have autonomous capabilities and vision systems that put any robot to shame.

Robotics is trying to imitate all of these aspects, and is probably making great strides. But if I want to carry something over a mountain pass, give me today's mule over the 8-years-from-now robotic mule any day. Wheels, propellors, jet engines, are a way to beat nature, because evolution isn't very good at those things. But four-legged travel has been optimized by nature (and slightly reoptimized by human breeding to carry burdens). You won't beat it with any foreseeable technology, and you won't make the unforeseeable come any faster with research in this area.

Re:Money well spent?

[Anonymous Coward]

Protip: the mules had nothing to do with it.

Re:Money well spent?

[Ihmhi]

Yes, but if a mule gets shot in the leg, you can't pull out a replacement part and fix it now can you?

Re:Money well spent?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you drive a car to work/school or a mule?

Re:Money well spent?

[lena_10326]

You probably commute to work and do all your shopping in a car (or perhaps the bus/train/whatever) which is a type of mechanical mule. How come it is that you don't use a horse and buggy for doing all those tasks? The answer is the same for both cases.

Re:Money well spent?

[Wyatt Earp]

I know schools are reducing what is taught about the Founders because a good chunk of them were slave owners and all were white, and thats just not what we teach anymore.

As for the American Revolution using tactics similar to Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Hamas, etc. That just isn't true. There were very limited irregular forces used by both sides, the Loyalists did it a little more than the Colonists did, from what I've read.

There was no murdering civilians who didn't side with the revolutionaries, no beheading, no suicide bombing, no Colonist went to London or occupied New York and blew up a British Army post or shot up a crowd of shoppers.

Even the American Indian Wars were more conventional and "regular" than whats happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is a weapons platform, not a pack mule.

[d474]

If they wanted mules, they'd use mules. Problem is, it's kind of hard to ask your mule to scout ahead 100m, scan territory, and post an "all clear" message back to your squad, while providing live video feeds and fire support (it may even deploy it's own microUAV during maneuvers). Old No. 7 isn't going to do that for you.

Re:This is a weapons platform, not a pack mule.

[Dynedain]

Well, even as a pack mule, it's still useful.

I'm sure that mules aren't very effective when encountering combat situations. Something that follows the leader and doesn't run away when under fire would be very useful.

Re:And when it fails...

[Faaln]

So are two GIs who collapse from fatigue after marching eight hours through sand carrying over a hundred pounds of kit each.

Re:Some personal experience...

[Anonymous Coward]

Horses are obedient.

Mules are mulish and stubborn.

We prefer perfect obedience and vaguely dumb vs. "I know what I'm doing" and intelligence.

fahrenheit 451

[betogm]

It is a prenunce of book Fahrenheit 451 robotic dog?!

Re:And when it fails...

[koan]

Soldiers recover, and they are trained for the workout, machines break down and that dog is loud as fuck when it's running even with a muffler...no parts to repair = 400+ pounds of junk, stick with the human soldier.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:And when it fails...

[dissy]

stick with the human soldier.

How bout we let that human soldier decide.