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the future of pack animals?

I think I'd be kicking that thing over and then shooting it with its annoying engine noise....Sounds like two jetskiers who won't get off your wake.
 
They've made a lot of progress! I saw a video of this about a year ago and it basically was walking around a parking lot and still had all kinds of umbilical cords attached. They did do the "give it a kick" trick, but this new footage with the ice, snow rocks, etc is pretty impressive. the hopping and jumping were new as well. It also is either self-contained or wireless now, but I agree, that engine noise is pretty bad. DARPA must be dumping a lot into the software development on this.

-- FLIX
 
I'd like it alot better if it had a head that looked like a horse or a dog. Other than that its pretty cool espically if the noise could be eliminated.
 
Very Cool! I saw a very similar thing to this but it had 6 legs much like an ant. I think some logging companies in Europe were begining to use it.
 
3 concerns..

1) The incredible engine noise, not so stealthy.
2) The cost and cost of ownership one of these is probably way too high for anyone other than the military.
3) Maintnance. It's got to be incredibly complicated machine not to mention the power source it uses would probably not make it ideal for the backcountry. I have to agree with kgd and norcalblacktail. I'd shoot that thing within a mile.

I'll stick with my horses.
 
As creepy as it is, I can see some usefulness in it. Granted, its loud but 20 lbs. of insulation and exterior "skin" would quiet it considerably and only reduce the capacity to 300#. Still a lot of gear.

The tough part would be recharging on a wilderness trip. Nowhere on the video or article does it allude to charge time, run time or its weather resistance. Remember, GM scrapped their electric car because the batteries were good for about 20 miles in cold climate. I don't see this "critter" being good for a whole lot. At least for another few years.

The best part about a vehicle like this would be that one could cut loose the gear and ride it out of the wilderness if injured.

Chris
 
:cool:

I think this is best looked at as a prototype, not something we'll be buying real soon. Wha's exciting is the AI, especially the "situational awareness" and the ability to react to it. Past "legged" devices were clunky and pretty usless for anything but novelty value. Even the legged logging vehicle is way behind this in responding to terrain and other circumstances. If they've been able to simulate animal locomotion to this extent, just imagine how much further this could go. :o [geek rant off]

-- FLIX
 
Rupestris said:
As creepy as it is, I can see some usefulness in it. Granted, its loud but 20 lbs. of insulation and exterior "skin" would quiet it considerably and only reduce the capacity to 300#. Still a lot of gear.

The tough part would be recharging on a wilderness trip. Nowhere on the video or article does it allude to charge time, run time or its weather resistance. Remember, GM scrapped their electric car because the batteries were good for about 20 miles in cold climate. I don't see this "critter" being good for a whole lot. At least for another few years.

The best part about a vehicle like this would be that one could cut loose the gear and ride it out of the wilderness if injured.

Chris
Click to expand...

it's gasoline engine powered... the action is all hydraulics. the noise itself in person is supposed much quieter - the video basically has a boom microphone focused on the thing, so you really hear it in isolation. it's quieter than say, a motorcycle or a humvee.

some folx are already doing parodies of the video:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/03/video-robotic-p.html
check it out for a laugh :)

bladite
 
When the video first started, I thought they added a "moo" sound like a cow. Then it kept on incessantly! It still sounded like a continuous "Moo!" Thank God for real cows they don't do that. We'd have made them extinct ages ago.... :D

Wild invention. Pretty soon, they'll be making lifelike creatures, and it will get to the point that we can't tell the difference from the real thing.
 
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