Big Dog

Remember the AT-AT Walkers from Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back? If you're not sure, here's a clip:

For those of us who aren't Lego geeks, or Star Wars obsessed, or who weren't even literate when the film was released, AT-AT stands for All Terrain Armored Transport. At the time, they blew people away, not just in terms of the effects (which really were mind-blowingly stunning way back when) but because of the concept of a reticulated, all terrain robot.

So you can maybe understand why this video from Boston Dynamics of Big Dog, their cargo-carrying all terrain robot sorta blew my mind.

Boston Dynamics's basic goal for Big Dog is to create a robot that can go anywhere people and animals can go, and carry freight. They're funded in part by DARPA, specifically, by DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. They've very carefully made motion studies about animal locomotion—specifically, how dogs move, and they've modeled their reticulated robot's movement after canine motion.

Big Dog isn't their only robot, either. They've made several others that are used for things like testing protective clothing for the military, or a portable all-terrain remotely controlled robot that can even climb and swim. RiSE is a small robot that can climb vertical walls, up trees, and even fences. I'm stunned at what Boston Dynamics has accomplished with computers, motion sensors, and old fashioned mechanics and physics. I'm also thinking that some of this technology has the potential to allow humans who aren't mobile to become mobile.