BigDog: The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
by Passa Chattra
Take a cursory look at BigDog and you might think you’re watching an agile, newly-discovered species of deer. On closer inspection, you’ll realize the animal is in fact a robot that mimics the movement of several animals both real and imaginary.
Designed by the engineers at Boston Dynamics and funded by DARPA, BigDog can carry loads up to 340 pounds over rough terrain anywhere on earth. It runs on gasoline and, with an internal control system that keeps it balanced and upright, can walk, run and climb the roughest terrain.
Watch the video and see a man even trying to kick it over, while BigDog manages to stay upright. (If you haven’t seen it before, it’s worth watching all the way through.) Also check out the rest of the family of robots Boston Dynamics has created. Rise climbs vertical; RHex devours rough terrain by remote control while also being able to swim and dive.
