Boston Dynamics Unveils AlphaDog Quadruped Robot

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."

Re: much quieter?

[MancunianMaskMan]

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.