Robo Mule

[Simon Strauss]

check this out http://www.bostondynamics.com/dist/BigDog_Feb-26-2006.wmv Unfortunately i don't know much about the project, all i know is a guy at my dad's office sent it to him and he to me.

[rangersteve]

That is awesome. Thanks for posting it.

[mechanicalbrain]

Here is a thread devoted to the bot. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45614&highlight=boston+dynamics
definitely a cool robot. :D

[jax1488]

i think this is one of the coolest things ever lol

[hillale]

honestly when i first watched it, the legs actually looked human. Like there were two people facing each other and just jogging. It was a little scary, but still one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

[lemoneasy]

Wow, that is a very fine design, though pretty loud for combat. Does anyone else find the legs kind of creepy though? Just so life like, just like robotic faces that are "too real" and turn out looking creepy rather then human.

[TubaMorg]

Like others have said, that thing is so close to mimicing natural movements it is a little creepy. One thing though....has it been tested for mad cow disease? :D

[dlavery]

There is a very good reason that these robots have walking systems that are eerily similar to human legs. Boston Dynamics was founded by Marc Raibert. For those that don't reconize the name, Marc was the founder and principal investigator of the MIT Leg Lab (http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/robots.html), which conducted some of the earliest (and arguably best) research in walking dynamics. They sourced most of the significant early developments running and hopping robots. Boston Dynamics was started as an effort to begin to commercialize some of this early technology, and to develop marketable applications. Oh yeah, and Marc's stuff is also always just unbelievably cool (just wait until you see their compact rope ascender!).

-dave

[TubaMorg]

Hmmmm a rope ascender! I am visualizing FRC2007: robots are gazing skyward, dreading a rope climb (just like old school gym class)....

[anna~marie]

really cool...
but way creepy.