BigDog is a quadruped robot created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with Foster Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station.
BigDog is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles. Instead of wheels or treads, BigDog uses four legs for movement, allowing it to move across surfaces which would defeat wheels. The legs feature a variety of sensors in them, including joint position and ground contact. BigDog also features a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system.
BigDog is one meter long, 0.7 meters tall, and weighs 75 kilograms, around the size of a small mule. It is currently capable of traversing difficult terrain at 5.3 kilometers per hour (3.3 mph), carry a 54 kilogram load (120 pounds), and climb a 35 degree incline. Locamotion is controlled by an onboard computer brain that recieves input from the various sensors featured on the BigDog. Navigation and balance are also managed by the control system.
BigDog was featured in an episode of Web Junk 20, as well as articles in New Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and the Wall Street Journal, As well as several Youtube videos. [Wikipedia]
Another Video released in times past : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww&feature=related
Related posts:
Leave a Response