Robot mule video

Have a look at this - the thing is ALIVE

www.bdi.com...


It's a robot mule for the infantry, decribed here -
www.newscientist.com...
and here -
www.defensetech.org...

Wembley,

>>
Have a look at this - the thing is ALIVE
>>

Great. Someone spent a gazillion dollars modeling a drunken horse.

Neeyhehehehheheh, shpuplplpl.

>>
It's a robot mule for the infantry, decribed here.
>>

Poor Infantry. Poor Mule.

I don't know which will look more pathetic in a 'Please shoot me, I'm with stupid ->' tee shirt.

If it cannot lope it is worthless. Loping means the ability to ungulate spinal motion (slinky with lateral/rotational hip twist). This is somewhere between a prance and a canter, at best (no knee lift ground clearance on an overall silouhette that could never 'heel' to reduce signature).

Simple fact is that they want to make something that compliments man as the most incapable asset on the battlefield. And so they scale their expectations towards something 'recognizable but not threatening' and get performance to match.

The REAL sadness being that they don't 'invent' a _wheeled_ vehicle to replace man in the places both can go. Since we don't like in the so called '90th percentile' of inaccessible terrain either. And that very laziness channelizes us to specific threat lanes and engagement modes for which no amount of walks-like-a-weeble replacement will do any better (because the actuator+stabs cost of animatronic type walkers is going to always be greater than for simple wheeled UUV. Even as the performance will be less.).

THIS-

www.bergoiata.org...

Is alive.

And anyone that read _Fahrenheit 451_, THIRTY YEARS AGO! Would know the difference.

The enemy may start seeing these things hunting them down on the battlefield before too long.
If they are successful at carrying supplies into combat, how long before they weaponize them ?

The reason why it is Star Wars looking is that it is a close cousin!

"This is not the first time the US army has ventured into this area. In 1968, it contracted General Electric to build the Quadruped Transporter, otherwise known as the Walking Truck, for the jungles of Vietnam. Designed by Ralph Mosher, it looked like a car with legs instead of wheels. A petrol engine powered the hydraulics, and the driver controlled the legs using his own arms and legs. It carried out impressive demonstrations, including climbing on to a platform built out of railway sleepers.

However, the Walking Truck was cumbersome and required a skilled operator, due to the limitations of the electronics of the day. The program was cancelled; perhaps its most conspicuous legacy was to provide the inspiration for the Imperial Combat Walkers of The Empire Strikes Back."

www.roboticstrends.com...

So BigDog and the Walker are both descendant of the same beast...

I assume it won't take long for some to get the "bright" idea of slapping ATGM/ManpadSAM Launher into, since they are bitches to carry on foot... maybe a recoilles rifle too... and Mortar teams would like a version too any idea how loud this beast is when it walks?

Now thats looks a bit scary ! Soon the films will become reality.

Looks impressive, however its pretty noisy, something that I wouldn't allow to follow me wherever I go. But its a good start. Maybe in the future there would be a walking tanks like in Star Wars.

BTW whats the range of the Mule? Is it good at anything more than truck to outpost tranfers, or could it be used for 50km patrols or long range spec ops?

well this is interesting I must say I am dling the video and cant wait to see it, a mountain/rough terrian shealth tranport. Oh its just a guy and his mule, if it works it will be less noticed than a truck rolling down the road.

You could put weapons or spy/camera equipment latter.