Once again I am astounded at how reality in actual fact follows fiction. One would think that it is actually the opposite, correct? Well, read on because this may knock your socks off.
Remember the original “Terminator” motion picture? Well this post may very well remind you a little of that. BigDog is a handiwork of Boston Dynamics Robots, and is rough terrain robot that has the capacity to run, walk, climb and even carry excessive loads. It is powered by an powerplant that controls a hydraulic actuation system. It looks similar to a four legged animal, or at the minimum, it has four legs and walks and runs in a very similar way as 4 legged animals do.
It appears BigDog is a device that has been in the evolution stages for quite a little while now, a few years to be specific. It is roughly the size of a big canine friend, hence the name – about 2.5 feet high and 3 feet long.
BigDog is a thoroughly functioning robot with its on-board computer moderating everything from sensors to the extensive motion of the piece of equipment. The regulation structure keeps it well balanced at all times – even when you try to force or kick it over, and the onboard computer system will steer the robot’s path through differing environment and circumstances. It even comes with a stereo vision system.
At the outset BigDog jogged at 4 mph, climbed uphills of up to 35 degrees and could walk across rubble, through snow, mud and water, and set a world record by going continuously for 12.8 miles without the need to cease. That was roughly three years previously. Now Boston Dynamics have revealed that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has allocated it contracts to develop two new robots, one being agile and the other speedy. The latter, the CHEETAH robot, will have four legs, a supple spine articulated head/neck and perhaps even a tail. And here’s the cherry on top