# Boston Dynamics Big Dog



## pardus (Mar 17, 2008)

This is cool and creppy all at the same time. http://gear.ign.com/articles/860/860123p1.html


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww&eurl="]YouTube - Boston Dynamics Big Dog (new video March 2008)[/ame]


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## car (Mar 17, 2008)

Can you imagine patrolling thru Sadr City with a coulpe of those, armed with M240's? Hajii would shit.


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## 104TN (Mar 17, 2008)

They need to have a casing that makes them look like giant wild boar.


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## RackMaster (Mar 17, 2008)

car said:


> Can you imagine patrolling thru Sadr City with a coulpe of those, armed with M240's? Hajii would shit.



I think a variety of armaments would be better, go big or go home.


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## pardus (Mar 17, 2008)

rick said:


> They need to have a casing that makes them look like giant wild boar.



Yeah!

With a flamethrower shooting out of it's mouth!


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## car (Mar 17, 2008)

gdamadg said:


> I think a variety of armaments would be better, go big or go home.



I was just thinking that any bigger recoil might throw off that (incredible) balance mechanism. Then you'd have Robo-Astro dragging his ass and shooting into the air.


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## RackMaster (Mar 17, 2008)

car said:


> I was just thinking that any bigger recoil might throw off that (incredible) balance mechanism. Then you'd have Robo-Astro dragging his ass and shooting into the air.



;)  They just need to take the technology and make it bigger than.  I know what you mean, I thought the same thing but something like that would be best suited to blowing massive wholes in walls while under fire.


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## car (Mar 17, 2008)

gdamadg said:


> ;)  They just need to take the technology and make it bigger than.



But then Pardus would have trouble holding it down by the hips. :doh:


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## RackMaster (Mar 17, 2008)

car said:


> But then Pardus would have trouble holding it down by the hips. :doh:



:doh::eek:  He might enjoy it though, it'll probably be holding him down by the hips.


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## HeloMedic1171 (Mar 18, 2008)

looks like I'll be out of a job by the time it's time to retire, right about the time the T-800's come online.  :)


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## Ex3 (Mar 18, 2008)

car said:


> But then Pardus would have trouble holding it down by the hips. :doh:



This was one of the comments under the vid on youtube:


> Looks like a walking vagina, but still id date it.


 :eek: LOL


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## WillBrink (Mar 18, 2008)

pardus762 said:


> This is cool and creppy all at the same time. http://gear.ign.com/articles/860/860123p1.html



Could it be any louder??!! :uhh:


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## pardus (Mar 18, 2008)

It's just R&D now, noise means nothing at this stage.


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## WillBrink (Mar 18, 2008)

pardus762 said:


> It's just R&D now, noise means nothing at this stage.



I have no doubt that's true, but damn. Anyway, I believe there are several autonomous wheeled vehicles that will be going into the service shortly that will travel with patrols, etc. I forget the name. There's a heavy and a light version and they can go over just about anything and more or less act on their own.


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## Centermass (Mar 18, 2008)

Put enough of em online coming at me and I'd haul ass in the other direction (the fucking things sound like giant bee's and I hate those fuckers)


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## JBS (Mar 19, 2008)

*Amazing Robot Pack-Mule:*

This is SO life-like, it's pretty scary.  

"It looks like an actual biological quadruped. Seeing it climb through rubble, snow, jumping over obstacles like a wild goat, and saving a near-fall on iced ground at the last second (fast forward to the middle of the video) defies belief. It feels so "animal" that I almost feel bad when they hit it to demonstrate how it regains balance on its own.

The new version of the robot can now carry 340 pounds, which is almost triple the previous weight. It looks to me that that $10 million funding they got from *DARPA* has been put to good use."


http://gizmodo.com/368651/new-video-of-bigdog-quadruped-robot-is-so-stunning-its-spooky?123


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## JBS (Mar 19, 2008)

Make sure you fast forward to the middle of the vid, to watch the critter "recover" from a near-slip-and-fall.


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## 104TN (Mar 19, 2008)

https://shadowspear.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10559


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## Simmerin' SigO (Mar 19, 2008)

When I saw this, the first thing I thought of was........"wow, the 'TOW-Sniper' in now a reality"!

(101st guys from the mid-90s may remember that there was an effort to put together "TOW Sniper" teams.  Briefed well, but was quickly determined to be ridiculous due to all the gear, for basically only a couple of shots.)


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## Boondocksaint375 (Mar 27, 2009)

Here is a really interesting powerpoint on it:

http://www.darpa.mil/tto/solicit/BAA08-71/BigDog_Overview.pdf


..and of course the article that crashed the site the other day due to the abnormal traffic surge.
http://www.shadowspear.com/special_operations_kit/1289.html


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## 7point62 (Mar 28, 2009)

Very impressive engineering with incredible potential. Can't wait to see 4th or 5th Gen. But right now the prototype looks extremely vulnerable. I don't see it as a viable alternative or a practical replacement for a pack mule or a llama for many years, so I was surprised the article mentioned it was being "deployed" to A-stan. To do what?

DARPA needs to continue funding robotics, but this is a perfect example of reaching that edge where high tech meets stoneage tech...and sometimes the same things that make something so amazing are also the same things that make it worthless in a combat environment. I'm not from the old school that says high tech is bad...I'm from the school that says use a real llama for high altitude humping instead of trying to invent a mechanical llama. And wake me up when your mechanical llama surpasses my real llama in its ability to perform the assigned tasks. I can tell you one thing: your go-cart engine will run out of gas before my llama does.


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## Ranger Psych (Mar 29, 2009)

your llama won't move shit to where it's supposed to link up with a team on it's own.


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## pardus (Mar 29, 2009)

Ranger Psych said:


> your llama won't move shit to where it's supposed to link up with a team on it's own.



What if it's a homing llama? 

Can't eat a robot either!


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## 7point62 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ranger Psych said:


> your llama won't move shit to where it's supposed to link up with a team on it's own.





Maybe so, but real llamas are friendlier and more cuddly.


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## 7point62 (Mar 29, 2009)

pardus said:


> What if it's a homing llama?
> 
> Can't eat a robot either!




A heat-seeking llama.


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## 08steeda (Mar 29, 2009)

WillBrink said:


> I have no doubt that's true, but damn. Anyway, I believe there are several autonomous wheeled vehicles that will be going into the service shortly that will travel with patrols, etc. I forget the name. There's a heavy and a light version and they can go over just about anything and more or less act on their own.


 
Segway was supposed to be developing one for the military.


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## Servimus (May 25, 2009)

Ehh, i know i'm a newbie here, but what i DO know from experience is technology and machines BREAK.

What the hell do you do when that thing just stops listening to you for whatever friggin reason.... you can't even trip the thing or take it down.

I can see this thing just running for the hills and a bunch of guys trying to get their 340 lbs of shit back all while the Benny Hill theme song is playin. 

Shit breaks....


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