Wow, can you imagine this thing on Robot Wars? Too bad the show is defunct - these guys could win, like, *hundreds* of dollars!

LagunaSol

Red Planet anyone?

That Guy

does it also piss on trees and fire hydrants?

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

@James:

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

Heh... I work at Crazy-Walking-Self-Balancing-Soon-To-Be-Killing-Machines Inc., and I'm really getting a kick out of these comments.

crap-action-jackson

maybe good for carrying supplies, but as a guard? any decent cowboy would have it roped and tied in seconds. never mind the fact that you can hear it a mile away.

mcnitt

even though it won't help in the least bit, I'm gonna start locking my door at night before I go to sleep. thanks for eternally haunting me JD

discounteggroll

@futureboy:
I've got your teabag right here, sister.

Slartibartfast

Build that in a larger scale, like times two or three hundred times as big, and you got one hell of a war machine.

Inepsa

That's crazy; I work across the street from this company, and happened to see someone testing this machine out in the parking lot. I genuinely thought I was watching someone remote control a Metal Gear.

waxdart

Edited out: after that guy kicks it and it rights itself, it turns around and saws him in half.

Sora57

This technology is what NASA should be using to explore Mars or the moon. It's like a weeble...the wobble but they don't fall down.

NaleAne

@marcsiry: That depends on whether you have sandwiches with you. You can refuel easily and without help. He can't. Yet.

Brock

That right there is the single most impressive thing I've seen on the tubes in a long bloody time. That thing is just PURE awesome (and, like many have pointed out, really really creepy).

BoinK

Stealth doesn't always matter. Tanks aren't stealthy.

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

"I smell an Asimo versus BigDog battlemodo!" @thegadgeteer:
and "Even Asimo can't walk as well as my 94 year old grandfather could" @marcsiry:

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

holy crap.. i thought it was real..

astrograph

that was a scary robot. i could imagine it becoming faster with longer steps, and then it would be really scary.

redkamel

The amount of completely useless information on the internet has turned us all into fairly jaded, cynical consumers of news. The reaction that this video (rightfully) elicits is a sign that this is Significant.

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

@riqgeez:

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

Totally. Amazing how often that happens round here!

ANoel

the coolest thing i have seen in a looong time

total win!!!!!!

godwhacker

@Windhawk: No doubt! Toasters indeed. I'm not creeped out by the video so much as I am by the BSG banner ad on this page. It's like we're trying to encourage them...

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

dwarfgoat

the kick was wicked that it didnt fall... the slipping on ice without falling over was wicked....

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

lol the sound doesn't matter i mean it could be running with a crew thats travelling with a tank bergade for all we kow... perhaps their will be 2 modes, gas for when silence isn't needed and then battery for when silent operation is required.... and then it can recharge via the onboard gas engine after a while on the run.

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

phantam

Hand me a saddle and lets take this bitch for a ride.

FACEMACHINE

Typo police: "nothing sort" should be "nothing short".

sgodun

Wow. I think the spookiness factor is boosted by the fact that the leg movement makes it look like it's walking on coals. ("Ouch! Hot! Hot! Hot!")

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

The guy that kicked it just made his own deathbed for when that machine has a mind of it's own.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

Has anyone thought how fun it would be to put a saddle on that thing and go for a ride?

johnnyabnormal

Check it out, Boston Dynamics has a whole line of interesting and diverse motion/climbing robots:

[www.bostondynamics.com]

Out2gtcha

The next version will actually kick the guy right back.

bngi

That thing reminds me of those Hunters in HL2: Ep2. This looks very cool.

Nathan Drake

[gizmodo.com]

we must have been thinking that at the same time.

riqgeez

It almost looks like 2 men facing each other, bending over carrying a heavy ass bag of gear!

riqgeez

Amazing... especially the ice recovery and kick bits...
Anyone else think it looked like two wierdo humanoid grunts facing each other portaging military kit in tandem?

ANoel

I'd like to see how it handles trip hazzards like taut ropes, or what happens when that pile of cinderblocks shifts underfoot. When it slipped on the ice I cringed thinking how that knee must hurt now.

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

balloondoggle

it's almost scary watching that thing get kicked / slip on ice. It's reaction is amazing.

lafond66

Give it wings and it could be a Brundlefly! ;-)

XJ_4x4

I don't use the words creepy and awesome too often together to describe something, but this thing is definitely creepy and really awesome. Now all it needs is that Metal Gear "moan" and this thing could seriously have a crowd of people running away from it like a flock of sheep.

finalgearsolid

The out of balance recover was astounding. It was obvious the the guy doing the kicking to off balance the robot didn't just pussy-foot around when he kicked it; it was a pretty big shove. I'm not sure if I would have recovered as well If I wasn't paying attention and got kicked like that.

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

I mean, if you silence that noise and put anytype of head on that thing, you could scare the shit outta Arnold-the-Governator!!!

riqgeez

That video is almost disturbing...

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

Holly freaking shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. OMG, I'm speechless! I have nothing to say. I feel like a loser, and I'm scared :(

Biggy

missiles - it NEEDS missiles!! (and a bambi head and skin)

avconsumer

this is one degree creepier than I thought. my nightmares got a new character to terrorize me.
the way it walks is like a hurt animal, and when the dude kicked/pushed it Oh you Bastard, how dare you! it's a hurt ... hurt... mechanic un-animated thing.

dysthymia

But does it come with teabags?

futureboy

"What's that johnson? it sounds like we're being attacked by weed wackers?" Haha, very cool, not exactly for stealth quite yet.

jackfrost132

Reminds me of the blancmange on Monty Python. The one that plays tennis.

Matthew77

Make it bigger, quieter, and not look like a newborn deer.

Then I will order two.

-- US Gooberment.

dragonphyre

Kidnapper, v1.0

crap-action-jackson

I smell an Asimo versus BigDog battlemodo!

thegadgeteer

Nuclear power is very quiet...

asiated

Holy Crap the part where it gets kicked yet regains its balance and the time it slipped in the snow was cool and creepy at the same time

theCornerinvasion

What an utterly extraordinary technological achievement.

GusRandall

I seriously thought it was going to rear up on it's hind legs and beat the crap out of the guy for kicking it.

TJ

@SirDrinksalot: LOL ManHacks

HJTravels

I think this is the first time I saw a robot that looks scary and plausabl;e for taking over the world. I mean really, imagine a 1000 of those with guns. The guy trying to kick it over was proof we will not have the ability to stop them.

Techinically an amzing feet...
M

BigDaddyM

Frackin' Toaster.

Windhawk

...nothing *short* of mindblowing....

But yes, kudos.

LiuHaoZhong

Kojima, look what your ideas have done.

blacksamurai87

Does anyone else feel that Fahrenheit 451 is looming?

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

That thing is awesome... It only needs an automated machine gun on top, plus an electrical weiner to re-charge itself by humping into wall sockets.

Aegis2k

@valis: Agreed. Now are they going to start developing their own AI and personalities?

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

that was brilliant.

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

it reminds me more of the cow in this 'Top Secret' movie from a few years back.

Remolagino

That thing is noisy. I'd rather use a mule, unless the plan is to use that somewhere other than the earth.

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

vagrant

This is how those movies where robots turn on humans and try to take over start.

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

BrandynQ

Too bad they still haven't figured out to replace that V-6 with a battery pack.

homerbklyn

Rather than AT-AT i was thinking of Tachikomas, add 4 more legs and almost you have it!!

Valis

valis

They need lasers in their noses like k9!

Xenocide

Quite possibly the most annoying sound ever.

P3nnst8r

Now if I hear a chainsaw and the plodding of four metallic feet coming towards me, I'm running for my life. That thing is damned impressive - especially when recovering from both shoves and slips.

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

electrikecho

In the forest walk it looks like two people carrying a mattress. I agree, this thing is cree-pay, and the motor sound is scarier than any Hollywood monster. Imagine two hundred of these bringing peace and democracy to your neighborhood.

DearEditor

Seeing it regain its balance is impressive, and so very spooky.

FLegion

Reminiscent of a Silent Hill monster.

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

Gonna be hard to sneak up on enemies as loud as it is, or deliver goods behind the lines, the equivalent of some private running up in a recon situation yelling, "HEY GUYS! I BROUGHT YOU THAT EXTRA AMMO YOU WANTED!"

steven5737

All we need now is a power source that isn't so loud and lasts. When we break this barrier, everything is going to change. Once combustion engines are gone, once batteries are lighter and can last weeks not hours or minutes, then you will need to be afraid.

James

Truly is spooky. When it slipped on the ice, I actually caught myself thinking "poor thing, I hope it's ok" before I remembered it was a machine, and not an animal.

permissionmag

im pretty sure those killed me in half life

T16skyhopp

If this is for military purpose, it would work by scaring the HELL out of me in the woods. AmaZing robotics, terrifying sound and appearance.

Curves

This looks like something out of Half-Life... What's next? Head crabs?

SirDrinksalot

Was I the only one laughing my ass off watching that thing slip on the ice?

aphex

The self recovery after it loses balance is pretty impressive.

charliedigital

That thing scares the hell out of me every time I see a video of it.

Stang70Fastback

WOW!!! That is so incredible. A robot that can actually walk and catch itself. Hell, it did better than most humans would have done on that ice. It is spooky. They get this thing faster, these could be robotic guard dogs that roam a perimeter of a place, to keep watch. Put some grips on the "feet" and they may never slip and make them faster and have say stun guns, that would be scary.

sandmanfvr

almost louder than a Pleo

MickeyMoo

Wow.

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

SigmundTheSeaMonster

This is freaking annoying!

Palestina

It's impressive. And it's cool that weebils wobble but they don't fall down. But let's just say it does fall down, after all, few things besides my cat can fall five feet straight down and land on their feet. The question is: can it get up again under its own power.
I bet this could be good for search and rescue applications, but the cinder block test was way lame. How about some serious urban testing? No reality-based pile of cinder blocks is carefully stacked for stability. Can it climb stairs....down and up? How about a fire escape or a missing floor in the building? Can it climb on top of a car? If so, how about a moving car? And can it swim or will it just fry its circuits trying to wade?

thenerdyduo

So they've made a slow, noisy, pretty much useless robot?
I'm not seeing it doing anything particularly incredible that a wheeled vehicle couldn't do instead. Maybe if it was 10x larger and traversed seriously rough terrain faster than a tank it would actually look useful to me.

It is, however, insanely cool.

Kuiper

Metal Gear?…

Accordion

ho lee shit

MrBlahBlah

I actually felt a twinge of pity for it when the guy tried to kick it over. Very strange.

Dave Barak

That thing is creepy as hell! How would you like a robot that can't be knocked down coming after you? Can you imagine an army of these things like the little robot spiders from the Tom Selleck movie Runaway coming after you, not falling when they slip on ice or bricks, climbing up piles of bricks, gravel, stones, just chasing you relentlessly? Like I said, creepy!

limited.ed

I want to ride it.

mfaerber

@ANoel: Completely agree! I also felt "oh poor animal" for like a half a second and to realize in another half a second that its a robot, not an animal!

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

knvb1123

@LagunaSol: There is a version coming to ESPN this year. They made the announcement last week. Not sure which one it is exactly (Robot Wars/BattleBots), but it is one of the two.

szrimaging

And George Lucas whimpered.

Kaiser-Machead

dak! dak! that things gonna kill dak ina galaxy far far away. c'mon, empire's the best one.

dedalus987

this thing moves like a baby deer... and its reaction on the ice was very similar to it as well... very interesting. the jumping was quite impressive. i wonder how soon they'll be able to make it a bit more smooth. i would love to have a robo-mount

peterlarson233

this is absolutely amazing.

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

Man, that thing is insane.

Wubbytoes

I'd love to see someone dress that thing up like a deer and mess with hunters all season... if they could make the motor silent of course. It would also be nice to have one that you could ride. Maybe make it fly like some Pegasus-type creature. Put those horses to pasture!

Rotnmeat

I think it is fun to think about low tech responses to things like this (as the military seems to completely disregard the threat).

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

@Brock: You can refuel easily and without help. He can't.

("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

How many of the engineers do you think have ridden it around? Lord knows I would.

DestroyerMTL

Couldn't they also strap some explosives to this thing and let it prance into...somewhere explode-able?

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

@discounteggroll: You mean your door was open all this time???? Every night??? Damn :(

qbrad

Kinda like the Scarabs from Halo 3 arent they?

Now all they need are beams for eyes,

Mith

id put a seat on it and ride it around.

seabass45

I want a polo match between a Segway team and a BigDog team.

jetexas

Other interested parties: SkyNet, The Combine, U.S Robotics and Mechanical Men, and robotic equestrians.

MasterSauce

That's awesomely creepy! Looks like something from a hi-tech version of Silent Hill.

TM-Oliveira

This thing doesn't need to be armed. Just spread the word that a giant man-eating fly with his wings plucked off is hungry and on the loose. (That's what is sounds/looks like to me anyway)...they'll just run away in horror.
BTW, I'd like to see the expression on my girlfriend's face if I picked her up for a date on one of these.

dashriprock

You know, they didn't really show it doing much more than walking. Quadrupeds tend to have a galloping gait for running...

jamesuschrist

New robot mantra: four legs good. two legs bad.

whiteoak

When the guy kicked it, kind of reminded me of a cow with mad cow disease.

Justapspfan

@ehlaren: If the legs are kicked it should roll around and squeal like ED209, then explode.

MeesterBell

@TJ: hahah no Kidding.. freaked me out too perhaps what was worse was how they have coated it's legs in black tape or cloth, that makes it's limbs seem even more realistic in motion.

Had to keep telling myself this is a machine hehe.

DigitalTrix

@Kuiper: Yeah, flip that wheeled vehicle over on a patch of ice, then see how well it recovers. Come on, you really can't see how that's impressive? Besides, this is a concept demonstrator, to show that it can be done, not intended to be a final product.

frankedb

@guspaz: It's hydraulic IIRC.

frankedb

@seabass45: It would probably burn the crap out of your ass.

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

Now where did I put my saddle and noise reduction headphones?

macrumpton

I'm going to assume by the fact that it was silent in the tethered tests that it works on compressed air. This might explain why it works on a gasoline engine rather than an electrical one.

guspaz

@qbrad:
I don't have anything worth stealing (compared to the demographic surrounding me), and I can't remember the last time I hard of an asian guy getting raped. that's my logic for ya; take it or leave it =/

discounteggroll

Imagine this not with tanks, but as big with a gun INSTEAD of a tank. Stomping across the desert with a bad attitude. Even Allah would be impressed...

allenjnl

That was really creepy, but stunning at the same time.

ten10

BigDog?
That thing came directly out of The Fly movie!
KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

ooh ooh that sound!

socioecoboy

Seriously, though, there's like two torsoless kids under there, right?

greasypigstudios

I was only slightly impresses until that guy pushed it with his foot. And now im fucking scared. lol that thing is ridiculous, and amazing.

deucailion

I felt a bit sorry for it when the guy kicked it. But then I remembered it's just a robot. It's amazing.

photophile

I was very impressed by the way this thing moved, but I couldn't help but think how a 4 wheeled vehicle would do it better and faster. Each situation a 4 wheeled vehicle would have no issues. Yes even jumping that area, I saw(on youtube) a car bunny hop over speed bumps with some Bose powered shock system.

PopsGG

everyone remember the rough terrain in the Terminator movie's flash forward sequence? Well I highly doubt this thing would have any trouble climbing over those piles of skulls.. O_O
That said, It's amazingly smooth motion is pretty realistic, to the point where I almost felt bad when he kicks it. (My start on the road to groveling to our robot overlords)

Jeepin

The walking and running I've seen before... the slip and recovery... Absolutely amazing. I think had it taken $10m to just get that down it would have been a worthy price. Now this thing needs to be able to gallop and have a gyro stabilized gun platform and well... I don't know if I'd be more scared of the gun or the machine wielding it. I think what got me was how eerily similar this walked like the Hunters from Episode 2.

knyghtryda

Once it is able to bound, it's basically a robotic creature.

jawzxy

The ABSOLUTELY spookiest thing is that once they have the mech and processor/software done it is relatively easy to speed it up CONSIDERABLY!!

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

DanLar75

I now know how I will meet my end, thanks Gizmodo!
Yes, this thing would make me lose bowel control.

Hardcore1

this would be easy to beat with very low tech means
a hose.
a can of paint
mud or clay
a mirror

tristan

k, come the eventual robot uprising, these things mite struggle on ice still. Note to self - add cramp-ons to post apocolyptic survival guide.

Jakus

But can it blend?

mikedudeRx

I wonder if the designers have an unforseen problem looming with the animate behavior of devices like these a few generations down the road.

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 think it would be fun to let a prisoner loose in the woods and let fifty of these things track him down, while I follow behind on my horse.

InsaneGain

I just had to write in to express my amazement on such a machine. Whomever is developing this quadbot surely knows their sh!t and is doing it proper. Thanks for the post I would have never known otherwise.

TheAstronot

That's cool. And think how neat it will look in your neighborhood with mounted machine guns.

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

heath

Engineering feat of Highest order!!

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

Comment on New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky What a great technological advancement. Imagine being able to get life saving supplies to survivors of a tragedy such as a plane crash or earthquake or avalanche. The possibilities are endless. Great Invention!

ApolloHennessy

there's only one thing wrong with the videos I have seen of this machine before - it doesn't stand still.

skulldriveshaft

@phantam: why are you giving away creepy ideas?

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

@dashriprock:
Comment on New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky That's what I saw too - a giant pissed off newly wingless fly. Creepy - it even sound vaguely insecty.

SansoneLawlipap

...frightening... the first step towards the dreadful futures envisioned by the Temrinator series...

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

...frightening... the first step towards the dreadful futures envisioned by the Temrinator series...

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

Imagine you are the enemy and a dozen of these things are climbing up the hill after you! (with video capabilities). Now imagine if each one had a rubber face made to look like your missing in action (MIA) or captured buddy AND CALLING OUT FOR YOU...Hakeem, Hakeem!!! Even more nightmarish it would quietly come to you in the dark ON TWO FEET saying.... Psst! Hakeem, Hakeem! Hey! Come here! Help me!

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

SirLafalot

NASA should look into this thing as the next robot to got to Mars or the Moon.

Doc1960

so how millions? how much per to make? all in order to make a mule? How much do pack mules cost? Plus mules/donkey/horses run on grass and weeds, what does this noisey monstrocity run on?

grandpamunster

Brilliant. Needs a rear camera-eye to kick people who go behind it. Put a few of on a track and bet on them - Nascar meets Kentucky Derby! I would not make them silent either, stick a blown V-10 with headers, a couple lasers, gatlin guns and chrome plate it. Put retractable sword blades on the legs to jump on people. Make the enemy very scared before they meet their doom.

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

@T16skyhopp: Comment on New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky null

OttaviaNeoptolemus

I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

TamTamTwoToes

Ladies and gentlemen, our new robotic overlords.

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

emill1404

I was floored to see what this thing can do. At first I thought it was actually two people inside of it, because the motion looked that real to me. Hats off guys.

level34

Okay, as scary as this thing is by itself, imagine a group of these things which would work together over a wireless network protocol to coordinate an attack. You could have multiple robots spotting people and instantly reporting their location to other robots who may be in better positions to fire - not to mention put down covering fire. Humans will eventually be a relic on the battlefield... unfortunately... the lack of a loss of human life (on your side) will mean less of a deterrent to going to war:(

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

Great......now the government won't have to worry about whether or not US troops will fire on their own citizens in times of martial law (coming soon to a neighborhood near YOU). They can just send in the robo-force to squelch dissent and round citizens up. Probably cheaper than Blackwater.

isnamthere

Bullies are going to love these things...I want to humiliate one now...

genekalmes

If it were a real machine it would have kicked that guys ass...

genekalmes

Flash forward year 2045...Robot's gone wild...Robot's exposing their circuitry to pervatron capitalists under the guise of infomercials...perhaps sooner...

genekalmes

I only noticed a couple of comments on the insect like sound. This insect buzz plus joints that bend in ways mammals don't are what causes the "creepy" reaction.

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

"They sent a slamhound on Turner's trail in New Delhi, slotted it to his pheromones and the color of his hair. It caught up with him on a street called Chandni Chauk and came scrambling for his rented BMW through a forest of bare brown legs and pedicab tires. Its core was a kilogram of recrystallized hexogene and flaked TNT.

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

alright, so it's just like a horse! (which anyone could see if they spent a little less time in front of their computers....so why not just use a horse! It would probably cost less in fuel, and it sure as hell ain't as noisy!!
(and if no one else noticed, go have a week-end in texas!)

dudealfred

Indeed, it's spooky. Especially its recovery after being kicked. A great example of the "uncanny valley" hypothesis about robotics.

michael.lee

@steven5737: I dunno. I wouldn't want to be hunkered down in a hole and hear the sound of a few hundred of these things marching up the hill at me.

YouCanEatMe

As long as it doesn't snap into military mode...

eogeo

Why do people have so little imagination? How's this more dangerous than a serious combat aircraft? Doe the fact that it can walk make it somehow superior? And why do people immediately think of military uses? It is only a tool, developed from the control technology of aerospace but needs years of work to be intelligent and really useful.

victory

amazing! now theres no need to hunt real animals, and make it more interesting....give it a gun :)

when is skynet coming online again?

h3r0

to hell about how cool the damed thing is, what you all need to be thinking en talking about is HOW TO KILL, DESTROY, STOP IT...any intelligent ideas out there?

yeolepal

I had the pleasure of doing some technical illustration of BigDog for Boston Dynamics. It was a dream project and really fascinating to work on.

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

JamesProvost

For all of those people saying stuff like "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?" you're missing the entire point. Noone said this is the final product. It's just a concept. Imagine this thing 5 years down the road. It's a new level of techonlogy. To me its like re-inventing the wheel. We've basically engineered self propelled horses and pairs of legs. Countless areas of humanity could use such devices violent or not.

coreyhalliwell

LOL! So now 200 years later, were riding motorized horses! I want to buy one and ride it around town.

xRedlinexx1

Actually, the sound is what could spread fears into our enemies. Kinda like Richard Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" in Apocalypse Now!

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

Khena

@steven5737 :
"some private running up in a recon situation" who can carry 300 lb. of armor, and doesn't bleed, that is.
And don't worry, they'll develop the "stealth" version, it will just cost millions of dollars more for no good reason. (Or in modern units of measure, "a few Euro.")

absurdlord

I keep thinking it's two dudes carrying something, but they don't have torsos, like something from Doom.

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

Carrying something.

cyborgtroy

metal gear!?!

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

The noise is probably from the gyros that help maintain stability in all axis of movement. Amazing also is the integration of the software and hardware(i.e sensors, servos) - in its ability to react quickly to stimuli from its environment. For those that worry about the noise it makes or how slow it is, in a scsnt few years, they'll develop one that would be faster, quieter, sleeker, more intelligent and hardier with an array of sensors far outclassing what we have in the inventory(i.e. rpv's, etc.) It can be everthing from a recce robot to a very capable weapon's platform ready for use by the military and police against all "evil doers". This has obvious peaceful and humanitarian applications but I don't think that's what our government has in mind. Say you're protesting the building of a chemical plant (developers are politically connected) that will release carcinogens into the local water table - imagine a phalanx of these machines. You can't hurt them, nor scare them. You can put jaws on these things that can clamp down with tremenous force. All you crowd control geeks would love this. Nice future to look forward to, eh?

groundpounder

@GusRandall:

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