The "Big Dog" Robot & the K-Max copter

It appears the army is developing a "Big Dog" robot that hopes to deploy in Afghanistan.

Fox - Robots Take Center Stage

It takes a moment for the senses even to comprehend BigDog, a four-legged robot that vaguely resembles a headless pack animal.

The machine's creator, Boston Dynamics, has a motto — “dedicated to the way things move” — and that’s precisely what is both jarring and fascinating about its invention. Using a gasoline engine that emits an eerie lawnmower buzz, BigDog has animal-inspired articulated legs that absorb shock and recycle kinetic energy from one step to the next

There is a picture of the robot at the link - and it also mentions an unmanned copter that is in development. The K-Max

Enter the K-MAX, a remote-controlled helicopter designed to transport heavy loads — even in Afghanistan's high altitudes.

The K-MAX's unique rotor design — two intermeshed rotors turning in opposite directions and slightly angled to prevent the blades from colliding — give this unmanned aircraft a distinct advantage.

“All the energy goes into the lift and eliminates the need for the tail rotor,” said Frans Jurgens, spokesman for Lockheed Martin Corporation, which manufactures the K-MAX.

I didn't see anything to indciate how far along these are or deployment dates. But, evidently far enough along to at least talk about them.

Think these have the potential to change the scope of battlefield?

Found a little more on the "Big Dog" from the Boston Dynamic's site.

Boston Dynamics - Big Dog

A video of the robot in action is imbedded in the link above. Pretty amazing - it shows a guy kicking it and it keeps it balance. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.

I wonder how long it will be before they put some weapons on these?



[edit on 23-3-2009 by Frogs]

video.telegraph.co.uk...

reply to post by ocker


fasinating video

I've seen this video before. It has been around for a while more than a few months like the report states. Actually it's been around for over a year. I knew it as the "MULE" The one problem I see with the "BigDog" aka The MULE project is that it's noisy. Not very good if you're trying to move stealthy through enemy territory.

It's very noisy

Funny satire of Project look closely.

[edit on 6-6-2009 by SLAYER69]