New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww

by paulsb • 18 years ago

192 91 18 years ago

paulsb• 18 years ago

I can't decide if the bit where he tries to kick it over or the bit on the ice is best.

chengmi• 18 years ago

I think the ice part is better--I doubt any animal would have recovered from that without falling on its side. What I really want to see is a bloopers reel from early in the project.

tim23• 18 years ago

It seems that it is much easier to stay up with three or four legs than two. Just lock them into a slightly outward direction and you cannot fall. If you're on one or two though, you've really got to balance the rest of the system much more carefully.

thorax2• 18 years ago

Like those ED-209 bloopers...

noelchurchill• 18 years ago

The jump is the best are you kidding me?! It's like Jordan haha

Goronmon• 18 years ago

You know, I knew there was something weirdly familiar about watching that video.

Then someone remarked that it reminded them of a Hunter from Half-Life 2. Now I'm scared.

Readmore• 18 years ago

That was exactly what I thought too. It looks just like the new Hunters. Good thing it's being built for the U.S Military and not the Combine....

alex_c4• 18 years ago

Here's the headcrab:

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=Little...

gojomo• 18 years ago

And the standalone sentry machine-gun came out from Samsung a while back:

http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/samsung_develops_machine...

Forget the headcrabs -- what about those flying chainsaws in HL2?

Also: will the high school curriculum ever catch up? One of the wackiest 'long bets' offered:

"By the year 2150, over 50% of schools in the USA or Europe will require classes in defending against robot attacks." http://discuss.longbets.org/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=86

tim23• 18 years ago

Hah, it slipping on that ice is hilarious.

boredguy8• 18 years ago

I was watching thinking, "Yawn". Then it got hit -hard- in the side and use its 'elbows' to stabilize itself. I'm just glad it doesn't hit back (yet).

WilliamLP2• 18 years ago

Yes, wait until it figures out that the best way to stay upright is to subdue the human before the kick can happen!

andreyf• 18 years ago

The Boston Dynamics site is here:

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog

It seems to me that there is a lot of promising work that will be done in this area of robotics. There is a recently published book on this...

http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&...

...which suggests we should evolve brains and bodies together in order to get the most natural/most efficient gaits from them.

wallflower• 18 years ago

T3 is inevitable..

2-legged animals are no match for 4-legged robots that can't even be knocked over - just ask the target of a K-9 pursuit dog

TrevorJ• 18 years ago

It seems like a very robust system, and the way it displays the ability to fail gracefully really demonstrates some amazing software. I am very impressed that they are able to un-tether it as well. The fact that they apparently were able to get the power plant and the processing hardware onboard is really very impressive.

rokhayakebe• 18 years ago

i think we are in deep shit. there is no way that such robots paired with artificial intelligence do not take over the world. we are a few years away from it. humans will self destruct not by killing each other, but by creating robots that will be out of control.

comatose_kid• 18 years ago

Don't forget the sharks that shoot lasers from their eyes.

Or the dogs with the bees in their mouths, and when they bark, they shoot bees at you.

WilliamLP2• 18 years ago

That's nothing compared to dogs that can be trained to sick specific parts of the human male body!

alex_c4• 18 years ago

Well, only if we give them the ability to be self-powered and reproduce without any help. The first is feasible, but the second is so difficult that I can't see it happening by mistake, or being worth the added complexity compared to just making non-self-reproducing robots on an assembly line (on Earth, at least).

ArcticCelt• 18 years ago

My impression has always being that if we create AI that can tweak itself to become even more intelligent, they will simply look a us with pity, smile, pat us on the head and fly away to explore the galaxies in their brand new interstellar ship.

microcentury• 18 years ago

I'm just glad we get to see in advance what will be chasing us through the woods in a few years, the thum-thum thum-the-thum music playing the background, firing M15 bursts over our shoulders before the camera pans to the blackened sky.

It's going to be sweet.

ivankirigin2• 18 years ago

I love this robot. It is the right way to do legged locomotion.

Leave it to "a few guys in a garage" to crush Honda's 15 year effort with Asimo. Granted, those few guys were key in the MIT leg lab...

Note that BDI is all about the mechanics. They haven't done much work on the perception side of things. If you work in that area, contact them.

nazgulnarsil3• 18 years ago

It's getting scary. It's not that we're going to have robots going haywire and killing people on its own. It's that the elite crust of humanity is going to use it againstt us. Think blackwater is bad now? How about when they're not even human beings?

The thing keeping the elites in check for all of human history has been that they can't get too crazy or their own soldiers will mutiny. Hitler was a study in charismatic leadership. He was able to commit atrocities only because the german populace liked him so much. WHat attrocities will be possible when it is impossible for your soldiers to disobey?

thorax2• 18 years ago

That's when the hackers here step in, right?

sabat4• 18 years ago

As long as hacking without a license remains legal.

1gor2• 18 years ago

What's scary is how much this comment reminds me of Reddit...

nazgulnarsil3• 18 years ago

I understand, i'm usually against conspiracy theory bullshit myself. using robots on the battlefield is the only subject I get a little spooked over.

angstrom• 18 years ago

On a long enough timeline every discussion on the Internet converges on Hitler and Nazis.

euccastro• 18 years ago

To be honest, I'm quite tired of all this "ugh, this is so reddit!" I wish people would discuss the (de)merits of comments in their own terms.

yummyfajitas• 18 years ago

>Think blackwater is bad now? How about when they're not even human beings?

Then they run at a lower threat level.

A humans's decision process: "Is that guy a suicide bomber? OMFG SHOOT!" A few minutes later: "Fuck sarge, I got scared. I screwed up big time."

A robot's decision process:

    if uncertain_of_hostility(target):
        speaker.warning() #This robot only costs us $50,000. Hearts and minds, right?
    else:
        fire_warning_shot(target, bystanders)

    ## if fu_bar(target): #Don't delete or uncomment this line, or else bad things will happen.

nazgulnarsil3• 18 years ago

many issues in the next few decades will involve technology outrunning our ability to make ethical choices about their uses. what will the ultimate effects be of crops with terminator genes be? what happens when biotech created in a lab winds up mutating out in the wild? human cloning and genetically tailored babies are great examples that are emerging right now.

of these robots being used as somewhat intelligent disposable soldiers scares me the most because it is the easiest to abuse and the effects would be felt immediately. when it becomes a matter of pressing a button to suppress an uprising, who will decide when it is appropriate to press that button? remember that winners get called freedom fighters and losers get called terrorists. The USA wouldn't exist today if our "freedom fighters" hadn't resisted british rule.

ctingom• 18 years ago

Wow! Amazing.

alex_c4• 18 years ago

It actually makes me think of a robot horse more than a dog.

Does that mean in 20 years we'll all be riding robot horses around?

Once again, the Japanese are way ahead of us... http://www.absoluteanime.com/saber_rider/index.gif

motley_fool5• 18 years ago

I want my Chevaline, dangit!

mattjones2• 18 years ago

This excites me. If they become common, people are going to spend a lot of time exploring the world -- an antidote to sitting behind your laptop all day.

These things would make great pack animals. When you go hiking, you'll be able to toss your gear into one of these things and have it trot along behind you. You'll be able to take more risks because robots will be able to rescue you from tight places. If you get tired or sick, you'll be able to ride them.

It's funny to think that the streets of San Francisco in 2100 might superficially look like a town in a developing country. ("Oh, those aren't mules in the street, they're robots.")

jrsims2• 18 years ago

I admire your optimism. It is indeed exciting technology, but I think this will have military applications long before it is available for public use.

For now, Roomba will have to do.

kajecounterhack• 18 years ago

eh, I kicked my roomba... and it broke.

gotta get one of these pack mule buggers...

Hexstream• 18 years ago

"You'll be able to take more risks because robots will be able to rescue you from tight places."

"In other news, the number of accidents this year has boomed because of the carelessness induced by the presence of friendly robots."

jonah• 18 years ago

My question is why not a real mule? More flexible refueling options, has already been through many iterations, and not nearly as expensive. Seriously.

brent• 18 years ago

The bigdog is better at recovery when slipping on an ice patch. I need that.

waleedka• 18 years ago

Because this is only the beginning, and soon you'll have versions that carry ten times more than a mule, travel faster, and can be controlled remotely.

mattjones2• 18 years ago

Interesting question. Perhaps we will witness a renewed proliferation of domesticated animals in this millennium, a sort of "domestication 2.0". Robotics may actually help inspire it, along with our knowledge of so many more kinds of animals. As robot designers study lots of different critters to improve their products, people will start thinking, "Hm, some of these animals have skills." The range of animals we've made use of so far is probably tiny compared to the range that could be useful. And our ability to breed or engineer them in desirable directions has improved a lot. So yes, maybe there will be real mules too, or some other kind animal we haven't thought of yet. (Have you ever seen guide horses? http://www.guidehorse.org )

mechanical_fish2• 18 years ago

The price tag is not a bug, it's a feature. What, you think DARPA would pay you millions of dollars to invent a real mule? Buck Rodgers movies didn't have mules!

I will say, though, that compared to the typical military-industrial spendthrift extravaganza, this project looks really worthwhile. Think: powered prosthetics for quadriplegics. Think: remote exploration of Martian mountains. Think: lots of generally applicable algorithms for real-time physics.

dejb• 18 years ago

Ever heard the expression - 'Stubborn as a mule'

sabat4• 18 years ago

Skynet became self-aware at 2:14am EDT March 28, 2008.

sabat4• 18 years ago

Aw, c'mon. I can't believe people voted me down for this one. No one else thought the 'bot seemed eerily self-aware?

pchristensen2• 18 years ago

I thought the way its legs moved and the way it stumbled and rebalanced were extremely lifelike. I was wondering how they control it - is it as simple as a remote joystick? Just point in the direction and it figures out how to get there?

ericb• 18 years ago

One thing that struck me was when it was kicked or almost fell, I felt a little bad for it. I can see where the general public might someday award robots rights because we instinctually anthropomorphize them. I felt silly--I "know" it's just software, but what about the rest of the world with the same instincts and no understanding that's it's mindless code?

henning2• 18 years ago

I felt kind of bad in Trevor Blackwell's latest video where he was stopping Dexter from moving towards him. :(

I started constructing dialogs in my head along the lines of "Father, why don't you love me?"

ivankirigin2• 18 years ago

dexter: "one day, old man, you'll pay for this"

cheponis• 18 years ago

I worked on the original hopping/jumping/running robots at CMU and later MIT with Marc Raibert. I can assure you that everything done was above-board, published, and open. Dr. Raibert is one of those rare scientist/engineer/entrepreneur types who is interested in progress for people. He was asked by DARPA to develop this vehicle, so he wanted to help them out.

The Sci-Fi stuff in these comments are, well, crazy.

jrsims2• 18 years ago

Well, thank goodness for Dr. Raibert. And while we're at it, thank goodness for Albert Einstein.

It's the people who would exploit the technology developed by these benign characters that frightens me.

So it is perfectly reasonable to be paranoid about emerging technologies that have the capacity for great good or great evil.

mechanical_fish2• 18 years ago

I've got to say, this just looked like yet another in the line of CMU robot videos -- impressive, but only to someone who actually knows how hard this is -- until the kick. And then the ice-patch sequence, which is just awesome.

Kudos to you and your coworkers. This obviously represents one hell of a lot of patient work.

jbrun2• 18 years ago

That is crazy. It is almost like a real dog - which are free.

The real future is with genetically engineered dogs, horses... to run faster, cary heavy loads etc. We have already done it through selective breeding and soon we will be able to program DNA (see Craig Venter, Dawkins...).

These robots are so mechanically complex that they will ultimately fail. Nature (evolution) is the greatest designer. What complex robots have hit the mass market? None, because they are just too many moving parts.

Animals can even reproduce!

coffeeaddicted2• 18 years ago

You just did see a video of one of the most advanced prototypes(!) of a robot and you think it will fail because such things are not yet seen in mass market? Somehow that made me smile :)

jbrun2• 18 years ago

How many planes have you seen in people's driveways? The mass market is not a sign of success, all products have to start somewhere.

These robots will remain the realm of military and rescue missions because they have so many damn moving parts. Quality control is what drives up prices and quality control is exponentially linked to moving parts. So my argument is more along the lines of:

"This robot is technologically amazing and promising, but is built upon a foundation of complexity which inexorably leads to limitations".

drm237• 18 years ago

He's alright but dexter can do it while wearing some sweet shoes: http://www.anybots.com/videos.html#walking_080302_title

s3graham• 18 years ago

Wow, really impressive. The ice was amazing (though as someone with bad knees, transferred anthropomorphization makes me cringe).

Does anyone know why 4 legs was chosen? 4 seems better than 2 for stabilization, but why not 5, or 6, or 8? Maybe looking like a familiar friendly animal is an end goal?

kingnothing• 18 years ago

Probably better for it to look like a friendly animal than a giant spider, although that could be nice from an intimidating militaristic point of view...

astine3• 18 years ago

I'm willing to bet that it was literally and deliberately modeled after a large dog. Engineers borrow design from nature all the time because its much simpler than starting from scratch. Why reinvent walking when dogs already do it so well?

huherto• 18 years ago

Probably the 8 leg design was already tried by nature and it was not successful for large animals.

pchristensen2• 18 years ago

Whether in nature or manufacture, those legs aren't free. Is four more legs worth the energy required to grow/build them, and could the mental processing power necessary to run them be used better somewhere else?

nose• 18 years ago

DARPA was the original ycombinator!

icey• 18 years ago

This really has enormous implications over a lot of fields, not just military. I can see this technology being used in prosthetics, in home-care (walking bots), and all over the service industry.

The first thing I thought when I saw this video was "what's the stock symbol for this company?".

tokipin• 18 years ago

what's interesting to me is it's not even that difficult to get life-like, self-balancing, responsive motion, etc with basic things like feedback loops (eg segway.) i don't know what to blame most robots' relative rudimentaryness on except their designers' lack of knowledge about things like that. to me the difficulty is much more in the physical mechanics than in the software. though after you get the mechanics down, the software would become the challenge

anupamkapoor• 18 years ago

for a long time it seemed like two guys with their head+torso stuck in a funny box. but truly, wow !

edit: it seems very close to AT-ST from star-wars though.

New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky

Related Stories