Spider Bot - Plustech & John Deere

OK, I saw this and was completely amazed. In order to really appreciate it you have to see video footage. It is incredible! A spider-like tractor which has the finness of a cat. It has a computer spidey sense. It can determine if its foot position is stable and if not it automatically adjusts the position to become stable. Really cool stuff. This thing could possibly move up fairly steep inclines with ease like a spider. I would imagine it would really have some potential use in the military. Anyway, I appologize for not having video, but I could not find it. I saw it on the discovery channel yesterday. Anyway I thought I would just post and see if someone might be able to find a link to some video footage. I'm not very good at finding stuff like that on the net. Here is a link to the site I found that at least has a photo.

The walking forest machine is Plustech's best-known innovation. Plustech is the Finnish subsidiary of JD. The goal of product development was to create a machine that has the best possible working stability and minimum impact on the terrain

The walking machine adapts automatically to the forest floor. Moving on six articulated legs, the harvester advances forward and backward, sideways and diagonally. It can also turn in place and step over obstacles. Depending on the irregularity of the terrain, the operator can adjust both the ground clearance of the machine and height of each step.

The machine's nerve center is an intelligent computer system that controls all walking functions - including the direction of movement, the traveling speed, the step height and gait, and the ground clearance. The harvester head is controlled by the Timberjack measuring and control system. To further optimize machine operation, Timberjack's Total Machine Control system (TMC) regulates the functions of machine's loader and engine. All control systems are designed for easy of use. The operator-friendly controls are incorporated in a single joystick

"There are more pictures and cool videos on the web site."

It was designed to be less intrusive on the forest floor. Free from treads or tires, it steps very gently. It really does. See the video and you'll know what I'm talking about. Kinda scary looking. Moves just like a spider. Really earie.

Cool stuff. Wish I could afford one

Ah-ha! Found the video. Here it is

Let me know what you think.

That thing was all over the news here a few years back but I haven't seen a mention of it since.

Likely it's too expensive to build, too expensive to maintain and too expensive to operate and thus not very easy to sell. At least not until the regular wheeled/tracked harvesters are banned.