BigDog Robot Gets Much Bigger

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BigDog Robot Gets Much Bigger

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 8, 2012 @08:05AM from the can-I-keep-him-seargent? dept.

savuporo writes "Well known Boston Dynamics BigDog prototype now has a bigger brother named 'LS3' or Legged Squad Support System. It's intended to carry heavy loads for long treks and have enough autonomy to follow soldiers around, listen to voice commands and navigate autonomously."

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LOTR Quote by deathcow · 2012-02-08 08:07 · Score: 5, Informative

The LS3 Moves So Loud, We Could Have Shot It In The Dark
1. Re:LOTR Quote by gandhi_2 · 2012-02-08 08:49 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  50 comments down there, and not a mention of an AT-AT. For shame, slashdot.
  I'll leave now before you all start pulling out your Precious'es.
  
  --
  THL phish sticks
Pack behavior by vlm · 2012-02-08 08:10 · Score: 3, Insightful

It would be entertaining if it exhibited pack behavior. 30 or 40 of them running around together would be pretty interesting to see.

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"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
1. Re:Pack behavior by Anubis+IV · 2012-02-08 08:29 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Narrator: See the LS3's in their natural habitat. Once a day these lumbering creatures collect around the petrol pond to hastily drink up their day's supply of the vital fluid.
  camera shows a small spark flying out of one LS3
  Narrator: LS3's produce small bursts of electricty - sparks - from time to time. These natural occurences are typically benign and merely help to distinguish these graceful creatures from their organic counterparts.
  camera shows a close up with the label "dramatic recreation" at the bottom of the screen, showing a spark hitting gasoline
  Narrator: However, when these sparks meet with petrol, disaster can strike.
  camera pans over the gasoline pond, this time on fire and with wrecked husks of LS3's in it
  Narrator: Our crew returned to the gassing hole a mere hour after our initial visit, and already the herd has been ravaged by the fire. The raging inferno has consumed the herd. Such is the natural order of things in the urban jungle. Even so, with the next war, the Department of Defense will place a new order, and the LS3's will once again roam free
2. Re:Pack behavior by LoP_XTC · 2012-02-08 08:45 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Okay people admit you read this with a slightly British accent in your head :)
  
  --
  "Curiouser and Curiouser...." -Alice
Obligatory jarhead joke by elrous0 · 2012-02-08 08:10 · Score: 4, Funny

It's intended to carry heavy loads for long treks and have enough autonomy to follow soldiers around, listen to voice commands and navigate autonomously
Except for the "navigate autonomously" part, that sounds like a Marine.

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SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Do you ever wonder... by Ender_Stonebender · 2012-02-08 08:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Do you ever wonder if it would be cheaper and easier just to go back to using horses? I mean, we've been breeding them for hundreds of years...and I'm sure we could make some Kevlar-and-ceramic armor for them to protect them from bullets and shrapnel...
I suppose the advantage is that robots don't need to trained not to panic in the middle of battle. But I still wonder if chasing a technological solution is the wrong path.

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Loose things are easy to lose. You're getting your hair cut. They're going there to see their aunt.
1. Re:Do you ever wonder... by fyngyrz · 2012-02-08 08:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And you can eat them, as was commonly done in warfare in the past.
  
  --
  I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
2. Re:Do you ever wonder... by hrvatska · 2012-02-08 08:35 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  When not in use pack animals still need to be cared for. That means feeding and watering, cleaning the area they're stabled in, and veterinary care. I assume when these robots aren't in use they just need to be stored in an appropriate container. My guess is that it would be easier to get one of these robots into a remote area by air than a pack animal. And if a leg goes bad on one of these robots only the leg needs to be replaced. If a leg goes bad on a pack animal it probably needs to be put down, and then you have to bring in a whole new pack animal.
Reactor online. by GameboyRMH · 2012-02-08 08:21 · Score: 4, Funny

Sensors online.
Weapons online.
All systems nominal.
Initiating silly walk.

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"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Mandatory Feature by paleo2002 · 2012-02-08 08:25 · Score: 4, Funny

Please PLEASE have the things say, in a deep electronic voice, "Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof." while walking. If they do that, I will buy all of them immediately.
Strategy and Tactics by fyngyrz · 2012-02-08 08:27 · Score: 5, Insightful

Thinking about this from the viewpoint of the opposing commander, I'd make this thing the first target. Why? Because the soldier, initially free from carrying some part of their current 100 lb load because of the LS3, will then have to shoulder (whatever is left of) the load -- and they won't have the correct pack, harness, etc. to do it, so it will slow them down even more than the original state of packing the 100 lbs prior to the advent of the LS3. Not to mention that shooting at the LS3 will probably put some highly inconvenient holes in the soldier's equipment.
A properly configured mobile force -- at the individual combatant level -- carries everything it needs in an optimally loaded manner. Start adding in support vehicles -- autonomous or piloted -- and what you have done is put the soldier's supplies at risk, and therefore, likely the mission as well.
OTOH, these would be great in civilian roles. With a decent muffler system...

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I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Looks like an intermediate prototype by Animats · 2012-02-08 09:00 · Score: 5, Interesting

This looks like an intermediate prototype of the LS3. The specs call for a quieter power plant, which has to run on standard military diesel fuel. There's a subcontractor working on that. Clearly, that hasn't been integrated yet.
The LS3 is supposed to be about the same size as BigDog, but with with much stronger legs. That's clearly what's being tested here. BigDog wasn't strong enough to get up from the ground, while the video here shows this machine getting up. It took a lot of custom hydraulics to do that, which is why Boston Dynamics teamed with a hydraulics company.
Also, the sensor suite is much more elaborate, indicating that the autonomy level is being increased. BigDog handled balance and locomotion, but was guided by a human with a remote.
What we're seeing here is that some of the hard problems have been solved. Now the design will presumably be cleaned up for production.