Playing fetch with BigDog just got a whole lot more fun. And destructive.
Posted 03.01.2013 at 4:32 pm
19 Comments
We've described Boston Dynamics' military-funded BigDog robot as a lot of non-canine things over the years. "The offspring of a bull and a spider," a "robot sherpa" and a "robot pack mule," for example.
The latest trick in the rough-terrain robot's bag is decidedly more dog-like: It's learned to play fetch. Except when you play fetch with BigDog, it's the one throwing. Large cinderblocks, to be precise.
Using a robotic arm where its head would be (making it look even more mule-like), it has added moving around heavy objects to its repertoire -- in addition to obeying voice commands, keeping its balance on slippery ice, traversing slippery and uneven terrain and carrying 340-pound loads. Like an actual animal, it uses the strength of its legs and torso to help power its motion (and trots around like a nervous warhorse). "This sort of dynamic, whole-body approach is routinely used by human athletes and animals, and will enhance the performance of advanced robots," according to Boston Dynamics.
If you skip to about :25, you can see it happen in dramatic black-and-white slow-mo, which, to be frank, is the ideal way to view army technology in action.
[BBC]
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Strangely life like for an electro mechanic device.
Very COOL!
When it threw the brick i layed one.
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No facts, No response...
They gave it a jaw!!!
Ya know a horse can do all this.
@Callidus23
tottaly agreed partner!^^ lets bring some donkeys instead, who gives a crap about them, 7.62 in the butt and yall have a free meal for tonight ^^
dude seriously, you want to discuss why horse is better than a car, really?
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No facts, No response...
Were I an enemy combatant, I'd be cleaning out my shorts after seeing something like that coming at me.
But I'm thinking; why a dog or horse-based quadruped? I would think a volkswagen-sized spider would be more efficient and a good bit more terrifying.
@Callidus23 .. ."Ya know a horse can do all this."
A horse can also catch the flu, run in the other direction when it sees a female horse, requires pasture and will die of hunger or thirst.
ANNND . . .. . is terrified of snakes.
You got anymore smart comments?
@menoc
"You got anymore smart comments?"
dude comon dont put his face in the mud like that, not everyone has the same level of knowledge, you should have stoped at facts or "retorical fact-inducing-questions" to make him think...
ps: youre over 40 right? ;)
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No facts, No response...
So commenting because vt007 and menoc annoyed me with thier snarkyness.
Why is a car better than a horse? It is faster and can carry more weight yes. It is restricted in where it can go though - there is actually a need for bigdog, this isn't just a gee-whiz science project. Horses get hurt or can die and need food. A car can break and needs gas. Generally it is cheaper to fix a broken vehicle than to replace a pack animal and historically food is pricier to transport than gas (not sure that this is actually still the case).
The fact of the matter is that bigdog goes where a donkey goes, carries what a donkey carries, and goes about as fast as a donkey. Only it is either noisy (gas powered) or has a very very small range (battery powered). Oh and it costs a shitload more than the donkey. We are reinventing the wheel hoping that down the road the payoff will be some new capability.
If lessons learned from bigdog result in a spidertank that can fire a howitzer from 250 ft up a vertical rock wall while moving, then yes, bigdog is a worthwhile venture. It's a gamble though, and for what bigdog does now (or any production model of bigdog) the donkey would just do it better, faster, and cheaper (supposedly the military acquisition mantra - sigh).
So given that we don't have a ton of cash to throw around at the moment, if we have a need for a donkey and a forecast need for a donkey then we should get donkeys. If we have a need for a donkey and a forcast need for a spidertank WHICH IS SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT THE R&D COSTS, then we should pursue this bigdog thing.
Just because something is shiny and new doesn't make it better. You need to consider capabilities and trade-offs and determine what is the best solution to your problem. There's no shame in bringing back something that you got rid of before either - needs change and can move in cycles. After years of asymmetrical desert warfare, we are having to look as forest warfare again. There's no need to reinvent something we phased out when we can just bring it back as needed.
So for my little going away line, please think before you open your mouth and insert your foot.
@mparment
How naive of you to think that Big Dogs current ability to do anything is the end of the story. Big Dog is simply a test meant to be compiled with the results of other tests being done at Boston Dynamics. Just youtube Boston Dynamics and look at all of their other robots. Its quite remarkable and very scary in fact to see where the military is heading with new robotic technology. Check out the robot that runs faster than a cheetah or the one climbing over obstacles. Really intriguing stuff but I believe that whatever they are truly working on right now behind closed doors is what we should all wait for. Anyhow the point is that companies like Boston Dynamics are well aware of the comparison between a donkey, a horse and the Big Dog robot. They Know the financial impact as well as the current capacity of the robot. Just imagine them overcoming all of those challenges. The result will be a sleepless, foodless, super strong, super fast and incredibly durable war machine far more efficient than a donkey. The real question here is weather or not you trust a weapon of that nature on your planet.
@mparment
FACT1."what is the best solution to your problem."
i think a donkey will go ballistic if it were to carry and use .50 calls on each of it ears ^^
FACT2: you just dont like animals do you ^^
FACT3: as you said to use a better solution to your problem: you dont use horses to go to your wallmart, it shits and eats; it works, but you rather go to a gas station no? you wouldnt like to wait or force-insert food into your hors OR even whait till it get rest OR even better SLEEPS at night...
which brings us to the second point of full readiness if combat were to erupt at night OR no risk of infection if robot get "Killed" from decomposition...
FACT4: its a prototype! you seriously wanna argue about rediness of a new emerging technology, go talk with Karl Benz, dude...
FACT2:"please think before you open your mouth and insert your foot."
please go eat sheet ^^
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No facts, No response...
lol 2 is near 5 on numpad... AND YES I DONT USE the upper line of numbers... ^^
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No facts, No response...
@gmbusiness213
no man, no man let him(mparment) be, will see who gonna win a fight, donkey army platoon or some few BigDogs...
QUALITY OVER NUMBER, i say! ^^
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No facts, No response...
I think projects like this are the wave of the future. Everyone keeps saying that a donkey or horse would work just as well much cheaper. But keep in mind, this is just a start. Back in the day a horse ran faster than the first car. It was cheaper, and I'd be willing to bet a lot more reliable. Look at how far those cars have come in 100 years. We have cars that can travel close to 300 mph, reliable to 200+ thousand miles, and some get over 50 mpg. So, even give robotics credit and say we've been working on them for 20 years. Robotics have had 20% of the R/D time cars have. Give it 80 years. Robots will probably be heavily armed, much more efficient, and obviously more agile. Everything has to start somewhere. In my eyes if we can have "mech warriors" in 80 years this technology is worth every penny.
BigDog could also be used where humans and animals cannot go -- lunar and planetary expeditions, locations with high levels of toxicity or radioactivity, possibly regions of extreme heat or cold, etc.
This is pretty cool and it is amazing how animal-like the movements are, you know, up until the point where the head/arm chucks a cinder block. I gotta wonder though, are they designing this hoping that by the time it's fully researched and ready for implementation they'll have a way to power it in the field? It would take quite a battery to keep this going, especially if it's always dancing around like that. I guess they could build in a gas powered generator, but it would make for a very loud horse/dog/pack mule substite. Maybe a Chevy Volt/like battery/generator combo would be the way to go, though I think a fuel cell would be boss.
p.s. I want one.
This is pretty cool and it is amazing how animal-like the movements are, you know, up until the point where the head/arm chucks a cinder block. I gotta wonder though, are they designing this hoping that by the time it's fully researched and ready for implementation they'll have a way to power it in the field? It would take quite a battery to keep this going, especially if it's always dancing around like that. I guess they could build in a gas powered generator, but it would make for a very loud horse-dog-pack mule substite. Maybe a Chevy Volt-like battery/generator combo would be the way to go, though I think a fuel cell would be boss.
p.s. I want one.
This is awesome!!!!!
anybody else reminded of that robotic hound from Fahrenheit 451?