Robotic 'Pack Mule' with Impressive Reflexes

moon_monkey writes "New Scientist has a story about a nimble, four-legged robot that can recover its balance even after being given a hefty kick." From the article: "The project is sponsored by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), who want the robotic pack mule to assist soldiers in terrain too tough for vehicles. Ground-based soldiers often need to carry 40 kilograms of equipment. Raibert says the latest version of BigDog can handle slopes of 35 - a steeper gradient than one in two. The hydraulics are driven by a two-stroke single-cylinder petrol engine, and it can carry over 40 kg, about 30% of its bodyweight. The robot can follow a simple path on its own, or can be remotely controlled."

Why not just use ... a live mule?

Why is this better than just a mule? Let's see... Mules eat plants and grasses found naturally in the area. The electronic mule requires electricity. Great if you're in a city in the USA. Bad if you're in terrain thats "too tough for vehicles".

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

Well for one... nobody can get a multimillion dollar contract to develop a live mule.

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

That's no Mule.

That's an AT-AT.

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

I hear that if you spray chemicals on the mule, it becomes a synthetic mule and you can get a tax break.

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

Let's see... mules are animals. How could a machine possibly be better than an animal?

A machine won't get spooked by gunfire
a machine won't start making mating calls that alert the enemy to your position
a machine won't take massive shits that a tracking dog could smell
a machine doesn't die if it gets thirsty - you can go get more fuel and come back to it a week later or a month later.

I can see a whole lot of applications where a live animal wouldn't be as useful. Perhaps we should get rid of all the motorcycle police and make them use horses, too?

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

Perhaps we should get rid of all the horse police instead, make them use motorcycles... Or we could continue to use the best transportation for the task at hand.

First: Yes, an untrained mule may be spooked be gunfire. On the other hand people have been tra

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

A few of the brothers in the Pack Animals Union chapter 107 would like a word with you, Mister "I-can-see-a-whole-lot-of-applications-where-a-liv e-animal-wouldn't-be-as-useful."

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

a - an engine can be turned off at will, and a mule cannot.

b - this is a proof of concept demonstrating the technology. the key here is that it can navigate rough terrain and has good balance. The source of rotational energy is hardly important at this p

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

But when your mule dies in the bitter cold of the ice planet Hoth, you can slice it open with your lightsaber and shove your semi-conscious friend inside to keep warm while you build a proper shelter.

Re:Why not just use ... a live mule?

a - an engine can be turned off at will, and a mule cannot.

Yes it can. The hard part is switching it on again.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Nice robodonkey.

WHERE'S OSAMA?

Video of the robot

http://www.bostondynamics.com.nyud.net:8090/dist/B igDog_Feb-26-2006.wmv [nyud.net] Put through the Coral CDN, just in case.

The robot looks fairly hilarious when it walks, since it moves a lot like two biped robots (imitating the motion of human legs) facing each other. The whining mechanical noise is also pretty funny, since it sounds like a mechanical goat. However, it does withstand the kick pretty impressively.

its BigDog, not "pack mule"

I just don't know why anyone would ever call it a "pack mule" when its real name, "BigDog", is so much cooler.

Also, did anyone watch the movie of BigDog? It looks really creepy, actually. I guess I was subconsciously expecting to see, oh I don't know, a big robotic dog, maybe Bell from "Bell and Sebastion" with metal instead of fur. Intead BigDog looks more like something you would frantically blow away in Starship Troopers before it rips your head off with its long insect-like legs. If I had one, I think I'd want to attach something to it that looks like a little like a head, at least. When they kick it, and it moves its legs to keep from falling over, I squirm. It's like it's ALMOST alive, but not quite.

Re:its BigDog, not "pack mule"

I also felt it was creepy. I think we just reached the Uncanny Valley [wikipedia.org].

M.U.L.E.

Don't bother having it mine for crystite in the river valley, remember to have it make enough energy to power itself and the rest of your empire, and make sure to take care when installing it so it doesn't run off....

Cost comparison?

I'd just like to know how this gadget compares in price to a real pack mule. If our soldiers need mules, why not, oh.... USE SOME REAL MULES?

-jcr

Re:Cost comparison?

The advantages are pretty easy to see.

Pack mules need to be fed even if you are just storing them in a camp. This thing can be packed tight in a box until you need it, then you just feed it the same gas that you feed your other vehicles. You're already shipping gas, but you aren't shipping much mule food to the camp. Sure, one the move a mule can eat some grass, but that becomes harder in the middle of the desert or while being shipped across the ocean.

Also, it's much harder to resupply a group under dangerous conditions with mules being led than it is with something you can remote control a group of across that same dangerous territory. As far as weight ratios, some of them can carry gas for the others, while those others carry what you want delivered. It's the same system trucks use.

Plus, I imagine (based on previous darpa results) these will end up quite a bit faster than mules are.

Picture remote controlled, locally autonomous truck convoys dropping these things off for the "last mile" delivery to the troops in the hills and you'll see where all this is going.

Of course, eventually they'll also use them for surveilance placements and then remote controlled combat.

Neat, but needs a muffler.

Impressive sense of balance (the second kick in the video where it uses an almost simian method to get it's feet back under it is amazing). That's quite a step forward for robotics, though it's not particularly practical as a pack-mule alternative *yet*.

However, that thing desperately needs a muffler--is anybody else having flashbacks to "Dumb and Dumber"?

"Hey, you guys want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?"

Let's see here...

A 1,200 lb mule can carry up to 240 lbs of pack, eats grasses found nearly everywhere, will be reasonably quiet when well-treated, is smart enough not to walk off a cliff when the mule skinner isn't paying the best of attention, and will cost you under US$2000 per head. In addition, we know mules can be combat-trained, as mule trains were used to pull artillery on battlefields, and when worse comes to worst, you can eat it.

This thing can carry a bit more, eats gasoline, makes as much noise as a gas turbine, will happily stroll into harm's way, and will likely cost on the order of a luxury car per unit. While there will be no training needed, when it breaks down it's just so much spare parts.

Part of the reason for wanting something that can go anywhere is that the trucks you currently have *can't*. So how are you going to refuel the mechanical mule? Can this thing pack enough spare fuel *and* have enough capacity left to be useful?

I think I'll stick with the mule.

Beer mule

Finally, something that can carry a full keg, across abusive terrain and not fall down in a druken stupor. I see a great future renting these for senior class keggers. Maybe integrate the walker into the keg, So if the cops show up, and a little AI ( lots of shouting and the words "freeze assholes" ) it can run and hide in the forest with all the other kiddies.

Jim.

Slashdot has changed

This article rules. It shows that the Slashdot readership has grown quite diverse... as in diversely not nerds :-P

Since when do Slashdot readers feel the need to criticize large government agencies who fund R&D for building robots?

Jeez people. This thing is cool.

It's not only useful...

It's not only useful, it's WHISPER-QUIET!!!

Dimensionless, fucktard

see topic.

A "gradient of one in two" is a dimensionless ratio. A slope is the mathematical slope in %, which, again, is a dimensionless ratio.

Re:Hefty Kick?

I'd love to be the guy whose job it is to kick the multimillion dollar piece of equipment to see if i can knock it over.

Looking Real

The most interesting thing is the "natural" looking motion of the "legs". At first I thought it was two guys up in some custom faking it as a robot! They are so natural!

The video delivers what is promised but notice that when it does go up that steep hill there is no 40+ kg of weight on it...

It also seems a bit to loud and well, in need of some body armor.