"WHEN FASCISM COMES TO AMERICA IT WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE FLAG
AND CARRYING A CROSS." -SINCLAIR LEWIS

Friday, May 30, 2008

Robot Mule Freaks Me Out

From Wired.com:

Real-life, robotic pack mules are slowly starting to get ready for war. After years of developing four-legged 'bots, the roboteers at Boston Dynamics have just snagged a major Pentagon contract, worth up to $40 million. The goal: give their mechanical quadrupeds "the performance and reliability needed for military use," Marc Raibert, Boston Dynamics' chief, tells DANGER ROOM.

Already, Raibert's main creation -- the 165-pound, two-and-a-half foot tall, alarmingly life-likeBigdog robot -- performs pretty damn impressively. Check out this new video from Boston Dynamics: the thing hauls 150 pounds, picks its way across rocky fields and steep slopes, and leaps into the air like a steeplechasing horse. But what remains BigDog's most impressive feature is its ability to maintain its balance, without human intervention; the Dog is so surefooted, it'll take a hard kick, and still stay upright.

I love robots and all of their practical applications but this thing is just way too bio-morphic and annoying for me; I know it's not alive but I really want to kick the shit out of it.

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