Animal Robot
I am always amazed to watch technology bring robotic simulation closer to human, plant or animal behaviors. Here is a video of BigDog, a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads (see detailed description of its mechanical functions below). Much of the video's footage was captured in the woods, placing BigDog in a natural environment that seems more like its habitat than a lab does. There is an eerie post-apocalyptic sense to the way it traverses across the landscape. I was also intrigued by the almost human change in the sound of BigDog's motor hum as it slipped or was pushed and then recovered its balance.
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It 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.
In separate trials, BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load.
BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with the goal of creating robots that have rough-terrain mobility that can take them anywhere on Earth that people and animals can go. The program is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).
Click here for source.
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It 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.
In separate trials, BigDog runs at 4 mph, climbs slopes up to 35 degrees, walks across rubble, and carries a 340 lb load.
BigDog is being developed by Boston Dynamics with the goal of creating robots that have rough-terrain mobility that can take them anywhere on Earth that people and animals can go. The program is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).
Click here for source.
posted by Allison Grant at
1:03 PM
3 Comments:
hey! i love this video, well really it kind of terrifies me. it is disturbingly alive looking. here is another video for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXJZVZFRFJc
Hilarious! You Tube, what would I do without you?
Wow...creepy. It looks and sounds like a giant fly.
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