When chickens will have teeth
Update from March 7, 2012:
Things evolve logically. The Darpa is a military organization. It would be pure naivety to imagine that the development of these robots corresponds to civilian goals. The approach of the artificial man created by Boston Dynamics is already very impressive. But the quadruped might be the most efficient, for fast movement in a crowded terrain. Even better: the Centaure. Four legs and two hands. A lot of weapons, including lasers. Infrared vision, and in all frequency ranges. The ability to swim, to jump over obstacles, to climb. Armor.
Terminator...
The slowness of the nerve impulse progression had hindered the progress of giant animals during the mesozoic. There are no more problems now. Robots equipped with "intelligent armor", of large size, may be "the soldier of the future", fighting "against terrorism and for democracy". Recently, I saw on a video two kids aged 10-12 who had built an "electromagnetic cannon". But this is not new. Since when do we give weapons to our children, as toys?
Everything, rather than spending money on the best living for the human species.
Update from March 15, 2009
March 16, 2009: Progress in military exoskeletons
November 4, 2011: Progress in humanoid robots (Japan)
Page started on April 7, 2006
Update from August 29, 2007: Big Dog starts to run and jump over obstacles!
March 18, 2008
: Big Dog on snow and ice, now able to carry a soldier and his equipment
Link
See also the swimming and climbing robots
Go to this link
The American robot Big Dog
Go see this video which will show you where the Americans are in terms of robotics (at least what they allow us to see). The name of this quadruped robot is "Big Dog".
http://www.bdi.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog
( then click on the video )
More recent:
Big Dog carrying 150 kilograms of equipment
http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=BigDog
Little Dog
http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=LittleDog
http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=RiSE
Rise: the climbing robot. Try to imagine a vehicle carrying soldiers, climbing a steep cliff.......
The quadruped robot Big Dog
JPB 8/03/06
In the race to develop robots, military or space, capable of carrying loads on varied terrain, it seems that the company General Dynamics has taken a lead, with the "mule" BigDog.
The company actually presents this new robot as the most advanced quadruped robot in the world. Sensors detect the different types of terrain and adapt to them. Others, proprioceptors, based on inertial systems, detect the slightest "misstep". The robot can climb steep slopes, cross rock falls and maintain its balance even after receiving a strong lateral kick (which its designers do not hesitate to give, as shown in the video).
The four legs, which can be covered with pants to give them a more natural look, have three joints controlled by an on-board computer. The robot's hydraulic circuits are operated by a two-stroke gasoline engine. The total weight is about 100 kg. The robot can have some autonomy, but it can obviously also be remote-controlled or wired.
The project is funded by DARPA, which intends to use it to transport loads of 40 kg, assisting soldiers operating on inaccessible terrain by wheeled vehicles. When you think about it, a quadruped robot is not the most stupid vehicle for transporting loads in varied terrain. The performance of Bog Dog is quite astonishing. If we extrapolate such a machine, we find the robots of the Star Wars. Some see in Big Dog a kind of "mule" intended to relieve a soldier for carrying loads. But this is a serious lack of imagination. Big Dog can sneak into cover, carry cameras and machine guns, missile launchers, plant anti-personnel mines. After approaching its target by walking through rock falls, debris, undergrowth, it can spread its legs, position itself and carry out a well-aimed shot. Going further, the resemblance to an animal can be refined. It is already quite astonishing from the point of view of the gait. Big Dog, as a "mule", is a complex machine, but it is also the precursor of machines performing penetrations under animal camouflage.
This film shows us that now everything must be considered. One day, guards will have to shoot at the slightest hedgehog, the slightest stray dog, the slightest rat that sneaks, the slightest seagull that flies over them, the slightest chicken that approaches them while pecking, because it may not be a hedgehog, nor a dog, nor a rat, nor a seagull, and that chicken may have ... teeth.
On the company's website, don't miss the robot equipped with claws that manages to climb up a vertical brick wall. A toy? No, if it is loaded with explosives or toxic or anesthetic gas.
Big Dog, the quadruped, moves at a quite acceptable speed. It reacts very quickly to attempts at destabilization (a kick to its "side"). Beyond that, it is by no means impossible to imagine quadruped machines that can run faster than any animal, jump over obstacles. Remember the first motorized vehicle in history: Cugnot's fardier, equipped with a steam engine. It moved so slowly that a rider could precede it, pushing away the curious. I think we have come a long way since. I imagine that those who saw it must have said, "Can you imagine that one day it will replace the horse?"
The specialty of scientific journalists is often their inability to extrapolate. A car moves much faster than a horse. One day, quadruped robots will gallop, avoiding obstacles at a speed that surpasses ours.
The Japanese have produced a robot capable of going up and down a staircase. One day it will be able to do it ... running. The clumsy and awkward robot ... is science fiction. When you give this Japanese robot a push to make it fall, it reacts quickly by stepping back one of its legs. That's just the beginning. You can imagine a robot boxer, evading all punches and never missing any of its own, delivered at lightning speed. Or a tennis player, winning all tournaments.
Twenty years ago, a friend had developed a robot for pastry. Due to insufficient sales in the large distribution, he could not place this amazing product. It was very simple. His robot was intended to write, with cream, faster and more accurately than any pastry chef "Happy birthday, Marcel" or "Happy Birthday, Grandma". Two motors moved bars that were joined by a Teflon cube, which they passed through. Everything was controlled by a simple PC.
What was surprising was not...