The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog’s legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight. BigDog has an on-board computer that controls locomotion, servos the legs and handles a wide variety of sensors. BigDog’s control system manages the dynamics of its behavior to keep it balanced, steer, navigate, and regulate energetics as conditions vary. Sensors for locomotion include joint position, joint force, ground contact, ground load, a laser gyroscope, and a stereo vision system. Other sensors focus on the internal state of BigDog, monitoring the hydraulic pressure, oil temperature, engine temperature, rpm, battery charge and others. So far, BigDog has trotted at 3.3 mph, climbed a 35 degree slope and carried a 120 lb load. BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with help from Foster Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station.Development is funded by the DARPA Defense Sciences Office. Video Rating: 4 / 5
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The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog’s legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight. Video Rating: 4 / 5
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I’m sure all of you remember BigDog, the utterly terrifying biomimetic robot platform that dances over rough terrain on weird legs and makes a sound like it’s full of angry bees. You didn’t think they were going to give up on it, did you? No, it’s been a rousing success apparently, so much so that they decided to build one that outdoes the original in every way.
The AlphaDog, as they’re calling it, was created to be basically the practical version of BigDog, which, while compelling and scary, was too loud and couldn’t carry enough stuff. AlphaDog, on the other hand, will carry 400 pounds of gear for 20 miles in a day, without needing to be refueled.
Be sure to watch the video to the end. The now-traditional “shoving of the quadrupedal robot platform” is great, and then you get to see a new creepy behavior as it rights itself in an unreal way from a lying position.
Right now it’s powered externally and running on rails, but it’s not so hard to think of this thing in the field. With a GPS unit and some rudimentary depth-sensing cameras, it could confidently navigate most terrain or follow its “masters” along a trail. Though I doubt that feature will make it into first production AlphaDogs, scheduled for 2012.
Boston Dynamics’ webpage doesn’t have too much extra info, so keep an eye on their YouTube account for news.
BigDog keeps its balance on rough terrain using reflexes and advanced controls.
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The videos below are just freaking BADASS, or just plain freaky!
This is a project out of Boston Dynamics dubbed BigDog, the most advanced rough terrain robot on earth. It walks, runs (4 mph in tests), climbs (up to 35 degrees) carrying heavy loads, and can adjust to slippery conditions such as snow or mud. The legs work much like the animal it is modeled after with articulating joints. Powered by a hydraulic actuation system it recycles energy with each step and can adjust to the terrain dynamically. This model is 3 feet long, 2.5 feet tall and weighs 240 lbs. Using the gyro it can also maintain stability when side impact occurs, as seen in the video below.
In the first of the videos I keep expecting to see it lift its leg on the tree.
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