New BigDog Robot Video 193
John860 writes "The US company Boston Dynamics has released an amazing new video of its quadruped robot BigDog. The highlight of the video (at 1:24) shows how the robot starts slipping on ice, almost falls several times, but finally regains its balance and continues walking. The video also shows the robot's ability to cope with different types of terrains, climb and descend steep slopes, and jump. Two years ago, the older version of BigDog was already able to climb slopes, keep its balance after a strong kick, and walk on rough terrain like stones, mud, and snow. The new version weighs 235 lbs and can carry a payload of up to 340 lbs, a factor of 4 better than its predecessor."
sorry (Score:5, Funny)
The walking motion is much like a goat. A goat, see?
Somewhere deep in the caves of Tora Bora (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but it was delivered by this weird mechanical goat thing that buzzed like a swarm of bees in a poppy field.
Hmm. I believe my RealGoat delivery has arrived! Allahu Ackbar!
Oh yeah? (Score:0, Funny)
Uck you too, buddy!
Re:Kick (Score:5, Funny)
I love it (Score:1, Funny)
One small step for a dog (Score:5, Funny)
Nah.openoffice (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Simply Amazing. (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds like maybe we should call PETA on you, since it sounds like you know exactly how an animal reacts when it gets violently kicked
Re:Kick (Score:5, Funny)
The civillian versions will be all plush and lovable (though huge) until some glitch reenables the combat subroutine. Lone cop and beautiful female computer scientist will then need to fight their way to the Mans' Best Friend central computer to press the reset button. One of the dogs will stay loyal and help them, the rest (with glowing red eyes, to tell the slower audience members that they are Evil) will terrorise the population.
Joe Dante will direct "Mans' Best Friend" (working title "Pastiche 3") of course, from a novel by Steven King. The cast will all be scientologists and there will be a few references to engrams and so on in the script, or maybe just adlibbed in. The movie will start with Eisenhower's speech about the Military Industrial complex and then cut to something ironic, like a weapons factory stripping the weapons off a giant robot dog endoskeleton, wrapping it in plush fur and loading it into a box labelled "Mans' Best Friend".
Re:Simply Amazing. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Somewhere deep in the caves of Tora Bora (Score:4, Funny)
When it gets real they sent the the dogs out, but because the dogs was trained with russian equipment, they prefer to lay below the russian tanks and not the germans.
Re:sorry (Score:4, Funny)
Goat.mechs?
Re:Creepy (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Kick (Score:3, Funny)
I kept thinking about those mutant Headcrab things from Half-Life