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Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Robot dog hauls 340 lb load across rough terrain
Nov 4 2008 12:00PM | Permalink |Email this|Comments (9) |
One of the most unusual and interesting embedded projects that I have run across lately comes from Boston Dynamics. They are working with Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to create robots that have extreme rough-terrain mobility. According to the Boston Dynamics website, their latest project, BigDog, is a quadruped robot powered by a gasoline engine driven hydraulic system. An on-board embedded computer controls locomotion and handles sensors for joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a laser gyroscope, and a stereo vision system. You can see BigDog in action as it climbs across rubble, recovers from unexpected forces, and skates across ice in a short video on the Boston Dynamics website. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule and runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load. Projects like this seek to eventually replace humans and animals in treacherous locations such as war zones or extreme environmental conditions.
Related entries in: Embedded Systems |
Reader Comments
at 11/4/2008 2:17:20 PM, jimw said:
Just goes to show that millions of years of evolution can't be beat. These robots are astounding, and all are clearly based on animal or insect 'prototypes'.
at 11/4/2008 4:09:13 PM, SeenIt said:
This is a rather dated article and subject. I was hoping for some new "news" on these robots.
at 11/5/2008 7:07:02 AM, Observer said:
Evolution? How about Intelligent Design!
at 11/6/2008 6:24:16 PM, OldEE said:
Intelligent Design? Please, this is a technical forum, not a religious one!
at 11/11/2008 12:55:57 PM, boB said:
couple hundred years of semi-intelligent design did this one looks like...
at 11/11/2008 5:12:23 PM, Meredith Poor said:
Many Intelligent Designers simply leave things alone!
at 11/12/2008 2:25:41 PM, Chris PE said:
C'mon OldEE - don't you know about Hadron Collider? They still cannot figure out what caused a bif band.You may not believe in God , but it does not mean that other technical people cannot.As the matter of fact most do, because they see things that science cannot explain. One was or another , it looks like we mimic nature in everything. How did boB call it? Semi-intelligent is teaching super-intelligent how to do things....interesting.
at 11/12/2008 2:27:35 PM, Chris PE said:
I meant big bang not a bit band.Even if they reproduce a moment AFTER big bang , they will still not know what caused it,hehehe.
at 11/27/2008 4:09:33 AM, Martin said:
That will frighten the mailmain. Does it need walking, or could I use it as a "ringer" at my local dog track?
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