military technology

Overheard: It’s very cool — military transport

Watch what happens when the guy kicks this thing.

BigDog, as this robot is known, is powered by a gasoline engine. That’s the buzzing you hear on the video. It’s got an on-board computer that controls locomotion and uses sensors for joint position, joint force, ground contact and ground load. It’s got a laser gyroscope for balance and a stereo vision system so it can see where it’s going. Inside it’s got more sensors to monitor BigDog’s hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine temperature, rpm, battery charge etc. So far, the robot has successfully trotted at 3.3 mph, climbed a 35 degree slope and carried a 120 lb load. It’s being developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA.

Overheard: Armed robot deployments within ten years?

“Instead of units with 2,000 soldiers and 150 robots, this equation might be turned around within a decade. Imagine a detachment of 150 humans and 2,000 robots.” James Canton, The Extreme Future