Santa's Robot Reindeer

#1
Yazata Offline
You better watch out, you better not cry...

For the holidays, Boston Dynamics, a robotics research company owned by Google, has put 'antlers' atop three of its 'Spot' quadriped robots and hitched them to a cart fit out as a "sleigh" containing a human being dressed as Santa.

It's a little unsettling.

Watch a short video clip here:

http://gizmodo.com/boston-dynamics-robo-...1749354343

My understanding is that these robots are part of an Army-funded project to produce robot pack animals to carry heavy gear for soldiers over rugged uneven terrain that wheeled vehicles might not be able to cross. (The question arises, why not just return to using regular biological pack animals?) The company is testing their ability to traverse various obstacle courses.

Here's another cool video demonstrating one of these robots' ability to keep its balance as a man tries to kick it over.

http://gizmodo.com/spot-is-a-smaller-mor...1684749999

Be sure to watch the longer video with the man jogging alongside the robot. It shows several of the company's quadriped robot prototypes, one of them walking through the company's offices, a couple of them walking up and down slopes and one of them even climbing stairs.
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#2
C C Offline
(Dec 23, 2015 09:06 PM)Yazata Wrote: [...] My understanding is that these robots are part of an Army-funded project to produce robot pack animals to carry heavy gear for soldiers over rugged uneven terrain that wheeled vehicles might not be able to cross. (The question arises, why not just return to using regular biological pack animals?)


Plus, the animals can't be hacked.
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