Robotics – part 2 (BigDog)

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Well well, its seems that you puny humans have finally managed to make a nice toy, my grandmother can make this in her sleep (whap!!!!! nerdy alien receives a whack on his bald grey head from his boss). ....Ummm, I mean, ahhhh....the glorious humans have mastered the art of making advanced robots.

            Today I shall talk about an advanced four legged military robot called BigDog created by humans (Us aliens like this name….why didn’t we think of it….. we were probably busy scheming against you). It’s created by Boston Dynamic's primarily for operating over rough terrain and carrying a heavy load at the same time. The project is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), they wish to use BigDog as a equipment carrier for soldiers that can work over rough terrain where even wheels won’t work. The BigDog project incorporates one of the most advanced sensor technologies in the world of robotics which enable it to navigate over rough terrain.

You could say that BigDog looks like the animal version of the big bad robot from the movie “terminator”. But don’t worry, BogDog won’t turn on you……..yet :D…... that was a joke, don’t report me to my boss or he will do some weapons testing on me and also my bald head is still sore from all those whacks.    

  

Well, apart from jokes here are some facts about BigDog, he stands 2.5 feet tall and is 3 feet long and weighs about 113 Kilograms. He can run at about 6.43 kmph (that’s right he can RUN on those four legs) and climb 35 degree slopes.  He can even walk in water and not be affected by it.

 He can also walk across a muddy trail and through snow. And especially what will be very helpful to soldiers is that he can walk across rubble (very helpful in your puny human war wastelands). He can do all this while carrying a load of 158.6 Kilogram.

BigDog has also set the world record for distance travelled by a legged vehicle at 20.5 kilometers. He is powered by a 15bhp two-stroke water cooled engine.

BigDog can balance himself with heavy load strapped to him, he will even balance himself properly if pushed. He can navigate through terrain which is impossible for wheeled robots to reach. He can be a game changing factor in a combat situation. Considering his abilities he can also be put to use for other purpose like aiding disaster relief operations, etc.

Considering all that we have read above we can arrive at a fact that BigDog has a very heavy configuration that enables it to perform such feats.

BigDog is loaded with some of the most advanced sensors which help him navigate balance and make judgements; some of these are sensors for joint position, joint force, ground contact, gyroscope (helps in maintaining balance), etc. He also has stereo vision.

BigDog can be easily controlled remotely by a person wearing his control vest. The controller can command BigDog to start or stop its engine, stand up, squat down, walk, trot, or jog. He gets the operational information through the visual display. While the operator only gives commands to to go from point A to point B it is upto BigDog to control everything including else navigating the terrain by his own reflexes. (I can control BigDog with my huge nerdy brain :D…….ok I lied , I can’t……..yet )

            From all that we have seen here I can easily say that robots will play a big role in the human civilization. Boston Dynamics has broken a new arrier in robotics with the creation of Big Dog……..I want one on my birthday now.

We might even stop abducting humans if all of you become intelligent as BigDog’s creators (whap!!!!....Nerdy alien receives another whack from his boss)….sorry, boss says abduction is a secret and that I am not suppose to tell you that we do it every alternate day… (whap…. Whap....whap!!!!! Nerdy alien receives more whacking from his boss)….


Picture Courtesy : http://www.bostondynamics.com/