Boston Dynamics have been awarded two multi-million contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) to build several life-like robots. One will have human-like features and the other will be designed after a Cheetah. The first model of the robot Cheetah is due in 20 months and the Boston-based company is aiming for it to reach speeds from 20-30 mph. This technology is expected to be updated two more times set at one-year intervals. In the future they hope to reach speeds of up to 70 mph which will completely destroy the current existing robot speeds of only 13 mph. The robot Cheetah will have a malleable body to allow for a zigzag motion and speed up the robot ability to take sharp turns faster. The build on the robot will be an articulated head, a flexible spine, a tail, and four legs. Hopes are that the robot will be able to stop on a dime from whatever speed it is running at.
The human robot is called Petman and it has a lot of the same capabilities as human have only it doesn’t have a head. Petman is the same size as the average human and at times can look like a headless person. The Army uses Petman to test suits that are made to protect soldiers from certain types of chemicals. The Department of Defense is planning on using these futureristic robots for military purposes mainly but they can’t help but think that it would be practical for firefighting or maybe even agriculture.
Below is a video from one of several futuristic robots that Boston Dynamics development. It is called BigDog and it has the ability to hold up to 340lbs for long distances over rugged terrain. Check it out!
PCmag.com
What is the purpose of the cheetah robot? I guess that if they could manufacture a robot that would travel 20 or 30 miles an hour, they could find something for it to do!
ReplyDeleteI'm digging it, not sure how I would deploy it though, maybe as a mule for soldiers, firemen, police, etc. Looked like it had some traction issues going up that hill, maybe some wheels and bigger feet.
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