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Boston Dynamics Unveils AlphaDog Quadruped Robot

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-will-chase-you-in-your-nightmares dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Boston Dynamics, the company that created the BigDog quadruped robot, has unveiled a new, bigger system called AlphaDog. AlphaDog, a DARPA-sponsored project, can carry a payload of 400 pounds for up to 20 miles without having to refuel, and it's also much quieter than BigDog. The robot is designed to assist humans in carrying heavy equipment over rough terrain, and Boston Dynamics' schedule has the first walk-out of AlphaDog taking place sometime in 2012, when U.S. Marines will begin to put the robot to the test for real."

15 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Jesus fucking christ. by durrr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Put horns on it, produce 2000 of it and have them charge the enemies. I assure you it will discourage warfare like nothing else.

    1. Re:Jesus fucking christ. by durrr · · Score: 2

      Also, while mutilating the enemies, have it play sounds that can be enocuntered in everyday life such as car horns, default ring signals, doorbells or top 10 pop hits to ensure the survivors are properly reminded in their post-conflict life.

    2. Re:Jesus fucking christ. by Narishma · · Score: 2

      Already done:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMVg5ixhd0&feature=player_detailpage#t=54s

      --
      Mada mada dane.
  2. why not a mule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A mule is a quadruped and can carry 200 pounds a lot farther than 20 miles. It has much better AI, it refuels with easily obtained biofuel, and in a crunch you can eat it!

    1. Re:why not a mule by Sockatume · · Score: 3, Insightful

      On the other hand it won't walk continuously without rest or on-hand guidance towards an arbitrarily chosen remote destination, and it's not going to make your enemies crap themselves in horror.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    2. Re:why not a mule by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A mule is a quadruped and can carry 200 pounds a lot farther than 20 miles. It has much better AI, it refuels with easily obtained biofuel, and in a crunch you can eat it!

      Came here to say this.

      I would add that a mule is nearly silent, which comes in handy when people with guns are looking for you.

      --
      "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    3. Re:why not a mule by danlip · · Score: 2

      But a mule is thousands of times cheaper (don't actually know how much the military pays for one of these, but I would guess it's in the millions, plus R&D costs). And providing fuel for the war in remote parts of Afghanistan is a huge cost, in money and lives (lots of troops die protecting fuel convoys). So it's really rather ridiculous to try to replace a mule with this thing, especially for a nation that is spiraling into financial disaster.

    4. Re:why not a mule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But a mule is thousands of times cheaper (don't actually know how much the military pays for one of these, but I would guess it's in the millions, plus R&D costs). And providing fuel for the war in remote parts of Afghanistan is a huge cost, in money and lives (lots of troops die protecting fuel convoys). So it's really rather ridiculous to try to replace a mule with this thing, especially for a nation that is spiraling into financial disaster.

      You can't mount big guns on the next generation of mules and remote control them from an island in the Indian Ocean

    5. Re:why not a mule by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But a mule is thousands of times cheaper (don't actually know how much the military pays for one of these, but I would guess it's in the millions, plus R&D costs). And providing fuel for the war in remote parts of Afghanistan is a huge cost, in money and lives (lots of troops die protecting fuel convoys). So it's really rather ridiculous to try to replace a mule with this thing, especially for a nation that is spiraling into financial disaster.

      Ever worked with a mule? There is a reason that the phrase "mule headed" exists. It takes a skilled handler to get mules to go where you want them to. In xstan, granted, there are probably lots of people with mule herding experience. When we invade Canada, not so much. Shoot at the mule, the mule goes the other way. Mule food is expensive and bulky and they don't do well on a diet of JP8. Want to drop a dozen mules out of a C17? Go ahead. We'll watch.

      So there are reasons for Alpha dog, aside from the techno cool factor. Horses for courses, I suppose.....

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. Re: much quieter? by MancunianMaskMan · · Score: 3, Informative
    this one's not powered by the 2-stroke either, but it hangs from cables on the ceiling. The outdoor version would have to have some sort of engine, for BigDog that was a 2-stroke which is of course completely peerless for power-to-weight ratio, for the engine itself, and energy-to-weight ratio, because of the high energy density of petroleum fuel. Pity the damn things are noisy, and dirty.

    Let's call it GammaDog.

  4. Re:It's quiet because power delivery is via tether by Yvan256 · · Score: 2

    What if a big truck with batteries followed AlphaDog around with a tether?

  5. Re:Try self righting in terrain by Hadlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Considering the current alternative is a radio flyer wagon, one could argue this is better than no self-righting option. Off-road jeeps aren't terribly easy to right, but they weigh considerably more, and don't have a self-righting mode.
     
    I can see dog and cow-sized versions of this on the battlefield in 10 years, but I think the ultimate goal is to put a .50 cal mounted machine gun on one of these things, or some sort of light artillery, so you can remotely place light artillery on top of a rocky hill, far from convenient roads. Self righting a walking vehicle designed to replace a 12,000 lb towed artillery gun/trailer and the truck needed to tow it, in the field - baking in a self-righting system this early in the design phase seems like a good idea, no matter how crude. You can always expand later. Many insects in my garden don't have a self-righting mechanism, so one might say we're already one-upping nature.

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  6. Here's a pic: by LanMan04 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ask and ye shall receive:

    http://postimage.org/image/ock2ro5g/

    Although I think that's the older BigDog model.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqMVg5ixhd0&feature=player_detailpage#t=54s

    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.
  7. Re:I have a cheaper/better/faster alternative to t by CubicleView · · Score: 2

    So you reckon native vegetation is free and plentiful in Iraq for example? Have you considered the cost of "vegitation" between missions etc etc the list goes on.

  8. Re:Dog and Pony Show by Carnildo · · Score: 2

    Animals are cheaper and can self replicate.

    Horse production has a four-year lead time. To put this in perspective, if the United States had started ramping up horse breeding for a growing Army logistics need with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the first horses would be available about four months after Japan surrendered.

    --
    "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.