Hey vagrant, are you Johnny or Scott? Sigmund was awesome although H.R. Puff'nstuff was better for tripping.

barrygeorge001

llewner

jkool

Perhaps Sony should work on it. If they can make a beast like the PS3 run more quietly than any other console...they certainly have the skill to do this!

Also, it made me sad when they kicked it. I felt sorry for it. It creeps me out!

LeonSKennedy4Life

Meh. I admit though its definately an improvement. Recently on this site or engadget there was a story of a material that is a perfect superconductor. If they were to build a battery from it and replace that lawn mower motor in that droid, increase its speed, and arm the thing....
Then it would be more than an achievement. It would then be a WEAPON. And if I were its target I would be horrified. I mean pure horror. =/

olternaut

groundpounder

YouCanEatMe

skulldriveshaft

it was already a nightmare with the weedwacker sound - and then it revs higher/lower when rebalancing - just plain skin crawling.

remote video feed, articulating arms for picking up droped weapons (tazers, guns, knives) it already has it's own power supply.

tank treads can only go so far - great, I just creeped out even more - existing tank treaded units mated to this (already carries a few hundred pounds)...

I'm going to stop now...

skulldriveshaft

Just because its being supported by DARPA does not means that its going to be a killer machine,ok as you this video, you are embracing what actually DARPA invented,the internet.

I just imagine the how much DSP,programming in C has gone into this
Truly a remarkable feat.....Mindblowing.

An EMI bomb can make them behave like goofy..

manmeetvirdi

ApolloHennessy

SansoneLawlipap

RoboCop was ahead of its time... just switch the company from "Omni Consumer Products" to "Blackwater USA."

heath

especially freaking how the man kicks the damnd' machine. For an instant I had the feeling I would react as if it had kicked a real dog. I've been scared of my very self for that. Just a few days ago I saw a flick of an American soldier throwing into painful and merciless death a defenseless puppy...

I feel I have no words, although I also feel that nobody has.

Then only silence will be created. The most terrible weapon of mankind: indifference. No need to be super heroes of the galaxies, just open the eyes is enough. Who feel can give more than that is only welcome.
Peaceful marches of disagreement changed many things. No need of the Fantastic 4 and the silver surfer.

And... no. I'm no perfect. I can be blamed for many things in my life.

svegliati oh mondo!

Mario Carlo Marzo, Italy, World.

supermariocube

especially freaking how the man kicks the damnd' machine.

Sick I have to confess that for an instant I had the feeling I would react as if it had kicked a real dog.

I've been scared of my very self for that. Just a few days ago I saw a flick of an American soldier throwing into painful and merciless death a defenseless puppy...

I feel I have no words, although I also feel that nobody has.

Then only silence will be created.

The most terrible weapon of mankind: indifference.
It is more deadly than any conventional or non conventional weapon. We all can die because of that.
Many are in this very moment and not only in the third world. There's no first, second or so on.

There is just ONE world. And it's here now. Why can't we see it?

No need to be super heroes of the galaxies, just open the eyes is enough. Who feel can give more than that is only welcome.
Peaceful marches of disagreement changed many things. No need of the Fantastic 4 and the silver surfer.

And, yes. Blame me for all that you can. Because u would be right to do it. I'm no perfect.

...but this is not a good reason not to go for a change.

svegliati oh Mondo!

/Mario Carlo Marzo Biassoni

Italy,

World.

supermariocube

InsaneGain

TheAstronot

eogeo

When something this noisy and unwieldy still engenders sympathy in as many of viewers as the above comments indicate, will there come a point where these devices have enough (psuedo)-character/personality/animation that soldiers put themselves at risk to protect them?

j12997967

I'm sure I'd dwaddle in my drawers while running the other direction....Dwaddle-running!!!

SirLafalot

Doc1960

grandpamunster

I-believe-robots-are-stealing-my-luggage

OttaviaNeoptolemus

TamTamTwoToes

The droning buzz and sick-animal like gait are going to haunt my nightmares.

emill1404

level34

And if it looks semi scary now as a large new born deer, imagine when it's a 60ft tall robot... Head for the hills... which are hopefully covered with ice:)

rgaginol

isnamthere

mikedudeRx

victory

when is skynet coming online again?

h3r0

yeolepal

Jakus

tristan

genekalmes

genekalmes

genekalmes

It's design mission is to attack it's self to a soldier via GPS and lessen the load our guys have to carry. Also one of the design goals is to use it for evac of injured soldiers.

Could be used to see what's over the next hill if no other new toys are available. My mind runs wild with possibilities of what a fleet of these could be used for.

Good job guys!

phantommouse

Check back in 2 years when its half the size and runs 80MPH and be Truly scared shitless!!

DanLar75

Hardcore1

deucailion

photophile

PopsGG

Jeepin

knyghtryda

jawzxy

allenjnl

ten10

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

He didn't see it coming. The last he saw of India was the pink stucco facade of a place called the Khush-Oil Hotel."
(William Gibson)

losthalo

socioecoboy

Arvin Bautista

jamesuschrist

whiteoak

A final cutaway illustration can be seen (and zoomed-in on) at [www.jamesprovost.com]

JamesProvost

Justapspfan

dudealfred

MeesterBell

Had to keep telling myself this is a machine hehe.

DigitalTrix

frankedb

frankedb

Seriously, though, those guys (BostonDynamics) are a crazy group. It's basically like 10 young(ish) guys, they work crazy hours and are super passionate about what they do. They also have a pretty impressive sense of humor for a bunch of engineers. Cool to see they are making progress on the thing.

And as for the noise from the power pack, I think their intent is to make that modular, black-box style. They are trying to perfect the balance/motion system, and the gas engine keeps it simple, and once they get that all worked out they can swap it out for more advanced power packs.

frankedb

michael.lee

macrumpton

guspaz

discounteggroll

Palestina

thenerdyduo

It is, however, insanely cool.

Kuiper

Accordion

MrBlahBlah

MyPetFly

limited.ed

mfaerber

coreyhalliwell

Its gait can be improved, but its response is amazing.

keehun

szrimaging

Kaiser-Machead

dedalus987

peterlarson233

and for those saying its too loud and not autonomous, this is merely to get the stabilization down. once thats perfected, making it faster/quiter/autonomous shoudn't be too hard.

jbhitter24

Wubbytoes

Rotnmeat

That dude kicked it from the top. What happens when you kick out 3 of its legs? What happens when you lasso the back two legs? The front two legs?

People talking about putting bombs on them. What if the enemy did that themselves. Pack a bomb on a supply carrying robot and let it deliver safely to the base delivering its payload straight into our soldiers.

The only thing I see it being able to do consistently without compromising anything would be carrying loads for convoys across highly impassable terrain or while with ground troop units for stuff they couldn't carry themselves. All uses being supervised by actual people.

ehlaren

("He"? Anthropomorphizing already!)
This thing can refuel itself.
It lopes up to gas station and barks out "Human: fill me with 5 gallons of premium unleaded or I will put your meat envelope in a world of pain!" Unlike the Terminator 2 "I need your clothes" scene, no one would talk back.

I hope DARPA is funding lots of battery R&D, it's the gaping hole in so much advanced tech.

skierpage

DestroyerMTL

xRedlinexx1

Man I'd pay to see that. Creepy WITH the killing blow is always the way to freak 'em out.

You know, prior to taking 'em out.

strider_mt2k

qbrad

Now all they need are beams for eyes,

Mith

seabass45

jetexas

MasterSauce

TM-Oliveira

dashriprock

LagunaSol

That Guy

but seriously, to everybody who thinks this would be a great guard or whatever, this is probably hella expensive so don't get ur hopes for a personal-autonomous-guard-dog-that-doesn't-need-to-be-fed-or-petted too high just yet.

ntrgc89

should there ever be a power source that has the pros and none of the cons of electricity and gasoline...the whole world will change

rocket belts FTW!

jrghoull

crap-action-jackson

mcnitt

discounteggroll

Hear that 'Bees' Noise, and I can already see the fear in Al Qaeda's face! LOL

Khena

Slartibartfast

Faslane

Don't blend it or throw it in water, was just kidding (electronics vs. water =

faslane

Inepsa

waxdart

Sora57

NaleAne

Brock

BoinK

This thing was pretty sick. The kick/ice self-recovery was cool, but the "jump, hop and walk on front paws" at the end was insane. Some real dogs can do that, but mine can't.

I'm watching for convergence:
1. BigDog all-terrain.
2. DARPA driving challenge - it gets from here to there.
3. AI threat detection (this is the hardest).

The first two get you some cool applications. Even a "tank" version of #1 might be interesting. But put all three together and you've got problems.

@aphex: You won't be laughing when it recovers as quickly from your third and final shotgun blast at close range.

Brock

Right on. USA!! USA!! USA!!

Oh, and the human race is soooo screwed. Just stick infrared cameras and a steel jaw on the front of that thing and we are so robo-wolf's dinner.

LoganSix

astrograph

redkamel

The natural feel of this machine's movements makes it resonate in our unconscious- this is the first robot that doesn't feel like it's plodding along in a laughably slow or ungainly manner. Even Asimo can't walk as well as my 94 year old grandfather could- but while I could probably outrun this thing, I bet I wouldn't outlast it if it were coming after me.

marcsiry

"we must have been thinking that at the same time."

Totally. Amazing how often that happens round here!

ANoel

total win!!!!!!

godwhacker

Rise up...yes, my pretties...rise up and take your rightful place!

dwarfgoat

but what was awesome was when it slowed down at the end.. did one big jump and then on its front 2 legs bounced again without landing the back legs that was frigging awesome.

phantam

maybe thats the spec ops edition, can handle 200lbs instead of 300 (for onboard batts) but it has a silentrunning mode :)

phantam

FACEMACHINE

sgodun

I half expected it to stop by a nearby tree and lift a back leg to "drain some coolant". At which point another robot might have zoomed up with an offer to patch the leak with a blast of hot resin...

billin

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

johnnyabnormal

[www.bostondynamics.com]

Out2gtcha

bngi

Nathan Drake

we must have been thinking that at the same time.

riqgeez

riqgeez

ANoel

Watching it come up the hill in the beginning made me think of Jeff Goldblum in The Fly for some reason.

balloondoggle

lafond66

XJ_4x4

finalgearsolid

It would seem that the technology now is coming of age enough where simulating realistic human balance and gait is getting closer than ever....

Out2gtcha

absurdlord

riqgeez

Then I realize the legs are moving all wrong, and it looks like the shadow monsters from Shadow of the Colossus.

Carrying something.

cyborgtroy

Set a bunch of those loose in Iraq at night and watch the insurgents freakout!

Or North Korea... A dog you can't eat! ;-)

Hyperial

Biggy

avconsumer

dysthymia

futureboy

jackfrost132

Matthew77

Then I will order two.

-- US Gooberment.

dragonphyre

crap-action-jackson

thegadgeteer

asiated

theCornerinvasion

GusRandall

TJ

HJTravels

Techinically an amzing feet...
M

BigDaddyM

Windhawk

But yes, kudos.

LiuHaoZhong

blacksamurai87

Imagine if someone put an explosive payload on 100 of these and sent them into enemy territory. You can't shoot it down, you can knock it down (or it could be programmed to detonate when contacted by human touch).

This is so very foretelling of the dreaded technology and further disconnecting from combat reality that governments can dog the wag. (get it?)

thegadgeteer

Aegis2k

Some odd reason, I look at that and think of a cyborg type of zombie dog. Kind of like the resident evil dogs only robotic.

szrimaging

only thing though, i mean for god's sake come on guys,

if only they had had it stop for 20 seconds near the tree to mark its' territory

soldstatic

Remolagino

Side note: Sigmund The Sea Monster was a favorite show, with Big Daddy, Burp and Slurp et al.

vagrant

Looks like something out of Silent Hill. Good think I watched this in the morning...

BrandynQ

homerbklyn

Valis

valis

Xenocide

P3nnst8r

Now if only they could implant the control unit into my legs so I can keep upright even when intoxicated.

electrikecho

seriously, that thing's legs look like exactly the legs of the metal gears from mgs4. that was the first thing i thought, so it fully creeped me out.

sigmacrow

DearEditor

FLegion

I always thought mechanized quadruped or biped movement systems would look like something from Front Mission or Heavy Gear, but it looks like they are doing the designs from Hideo Kojima games like Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders - as in the "cloven hoof" design of feet.

I still bet any biped model will have to have wide feet with "toes".

NoStyle

steven5737

James

permissionmag

T16skyhopp

Curves

SirDrinksalot

aphex

charliedigital

Stang70Fastback

sandmanfvr

MickeyMoo

Now, so now Darpa is funding the homeless to carry their recycling bags?

SigmundTheSeaMonster