Military's Robotic Pack Mule Gets $32M Boost 167
coondoggie sends word that Boston Dynamics, maker of the BigDog robot we have been following for a while, has just been awarded a $32M DARPA contract to produce robotic "pack dogs" for the military. "What kind of robot will automatically follow a leader, carry 400 lbs. (182 kg) of military gear, walk 20 miles in all manner of weather, and go 24 hours without refueling? Well, we might soon find out as DARPA has awarded a $32 million contract to build its Legged Squad Support System (LS3) which uses sensors and a GPS to walk along with soldiers across all manner of terrain in any weather without pulling any muscles."
Fuck that... (Score:5, Funny)
I would have expected the Brits to do that first.. (Score:3, Funny)
Anyway, if they get John Leeson to do the voice, I'm buying one.
Re:Fuck that... (Score:3, Funny)
With the way the wars are going one might think "Tenser's Fortunes of War" (abj.6) would be more usefull, but the USmil seems to have a shocking shortage of serious spellcasters at hand.
Re:Money well spent? (Score:5, Funny)
Can you eat a robot?
What do we need the army for? (Score:1, Funny)
Put dual chainsaws on these! Instant surrender.
Re:Money well spent? (Score:3, Funny)
The civilian applications of this are tremendous too. SAR (search and rescue) support in areas where even motorcycle transport is dicey (Moab, etc), moving portable gear (generators if the mule can carry them) to a desolate area after a disaster. Additional help for hikers to carry stuff to and from a remote camp. A group of hunters can send a robot back to main camp to pick up another set of kegs, so the main partiers don't have to stumble down a trail at night.
Re:Fuck that... (Score:3, Funny)
Either that or they'd rather carry around a Portable Hole.
If I had NASA's resources... (Score:5, Funny)
Pfahhhh! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Money well spent? (Score:5, Funny)
Can you put a mule on standby?
That's the default. Waking from standby is the trick.
Re:Money well spent? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Money well spent? (Score:5, Funny)
Am I the only one would would like to hop on the thing like a pony and ride it to work every day?
Plus, I could set it to "Terrorize H.R. Mode" and pick it up at the end of the day.
Re:Money well spent? (Score:2, Funny)
M.U.L.E. ? Old idea... (Score:3, Funny)
They had this way back in 1983 and all it took to run was a C64!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E [wikipedia.org].
Re:Money well spent? (Score:3, Funny)
Thank you ever so much. I was just thinking, "It's been a while since I've rinsed nasally", and you helped with that -- except why did it have to be coffee? :)
Re:Money well spent? (Score:1, Funny)
Only on Slashdot could I expect to find a serious discussion on the benefits of mules vs. a lifting robot. Never change.