DARPA's menacing military machine gains some new tricks.
Posted 12.19.2012 at 4:29 pm
11 Comments
The Legged Squad Support System, a.k.a. BigDog, which looks more like the offspring of a bull and a spider than a dog, shows off some new skills in this video. At the order "Follow tight," the stocky robot keeps pace behind its master, trekking uphill through autumnal woods with an ominous whine of servos.
It also demonstrates an impressive ability to stand back up and continue marching after suffering a nasty roll into a puddle.
11 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Technology
140 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.
Innovation Challenges
Popular Science+ For iPad
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
Download Our App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
February 2013: How To Build A Hero
Engineers are racing to build robots that can take the place of rescuers. That story, plus a city that storms can't break and how having fun could lead to breakthrough science.
Also! A leech detective, the solution to America's train-crash problems, the world's fastest baby carriage, and more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Technology
- The Latest In Classroom Protection: A Handheld Bulletproof Whiteboard
- DARPA Can See You... From 17,500 Feet In The Air
- Smoke Screen Company Thinks It Has The Perfect Defense Against School Shooters
- How Chinese Hackers Infiltrated The New York Times
- Check Out The Winning Design For The Tiny New York Apartments Of Tomorrow
- Today On Mars: Opportunity Begins Its 10th Year Of Mars Roving
- Iran Has Successfully Launched A Monkey Into Space
- Starchitect Norman Foster To Design A 3-D Printed Lunar Base
- NASA Will Launch A 13,000-Square-Foot Solar Sail Next Year
- IBM's Warmth-Activated Gel Can Break Up Tough Bacterial Biofilms And Kill Superbugs
Most Emailed
Technology
- All Of The World's Undersea Cables In One Map
- Russian Rocket Crashes In The Pacific, Carrying U.S. Satellite
- Roam The Grand Canyon Virtually With Google Maps
- NASA Will Launch A 13,000-Square-Foot Solar Sail Next Year
- "Twitching" Material Dislodges Bacteria From Ship Hulls
- Starchitect Norman Foster To Design A 3-D Printed Lunar Base
- How Chinese Hackers Infiltrated The New York Times
- Popular Science Q&A: How NASA Selected The 2013 Class Of Astronauts
- Jackets Grown From Bacteria And 10 More Feats Of Bio-Engineering
- The 11 Coolest Ideas In Biodesign
Most Viewed
Technology
- All Of The World's Undersea Cables In One Map
- Russian Rocket Crashes In The Pacific, Carrying U.S. Satellite
- Roam The Grand Canyon Virtually With Google Maps
- NASA Will Launch A 13,000-Square-Foot Solar Sail Next Year
- "Twitching" Material Dislodges Bacteria From Ship Hulls
- Starchitect Norman Foster To Design A 3-D Printed Lunar Base
- How Chinese Hackers Infiltrated The New York Times
- Popular Science Q&A: How NASA Selected The 2013 Class Of Astronauts
- The 11 Coolest Ideas In Biodesign
- Jackets Grown From Bacteria And 10 More Feats Of Bio-Engineering
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Contributing Writers:
Clay Dillow | Email
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Colin Lecher | Email
Emily Elert | Email
Intern:
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Please Oh Please put a saddle on this thing!
It seems the robot is in charge and the human is the point man, which will be hit first in an ambush.
BigDog is getting fat. They need to walk him more.
Can it return a frisbee?
@Beyond9
1: wrong article.
2: check this article in the daily telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5712573/UK-is-violent-crime-capital-of-Europe.html
What you are refering to is rates of gun crime, not violent crime. Moreover, your solution would not work in America. Laws have no effect unless they are believed in/enforced/followed: Sticks and stones may break his bones, but words cannot disarm him.
beyond9,
Often for me an indentation does not work for paragraphs.
I usually put a line space between paragraphs.
This is the first robot with legs I have seen that looks like it might actually be useful. Big Dog has come a long way. Congrats to the LS3 team.
It looks so happy!
It seems to have a rather chipper stride, but lists slightly, very like a drunk person. I want one.
It's cool when sci-fi writers let us know what to expect many years in advance. When they see how much of a pain in the butt I can be on social media; I'm sure I'll be one of the first law abiding people they send the robot dogs after. And I look forward to that day, because both dogs and machines like me better than most people and they'll just be giving me robot dogs.