Boston Dynamics has made us cringe more than once in the past with their BigDog and LS3 robotic abominations in the past. This time, they’ve gone too far and we’re all officially creeped out. If you’ve seen any of the Terminator movies, you should be afraid. This is it without Arnold’s skin covering it. The funny part is that PETMAN is being billed as “an anthropomorphic robot designed for testing chemical protection clothing.” Before you start thinking that it sounds reasonable, keep in mind that this is a project that is funded by a “Robotics Challenge” put out by DARPA. For those not familiar with…

If there’s one thing that can be said about Boston Dynamics, it’s that they never cease to amaze us with the capabilities of their robotic creations. “BigDog” has been the topic of past posts here and this one may be the most awesome capability yet. Maintaining balance is one of the biggest challenges facing legged-robot designers. It seems easy for us and other animals to walk, climb, and jump because the portion of our mind that controls this is mostly subconscious. We don’t have to think, “left foot forward, balance on it, lift right leg, move it forward…” It just happens. In robotics, each movement…

Imagine a camera, drone, and integrated video storage system that can shoot detailed images of a 15-square mile area that can see objects on the ground 6-inches wide from 17,500 feet in the sky. You would be imagining the ARGUS-IS system, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) searching and tracking technology. The Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance – Imaging System is designed to give the government the capabilities to pinpoint vehicles, people, and even objects of interest from far above the ground. It combines wide view and zoom capabilities that automatically…

Many of us were born or raised in a world with the internet. For some, it has been a part of their lives for as long as they can remember and the idea of living and doing our daily activities without the connectivity that it presents is almost obscene. We’re a spoiled society. The internet itself has a much longer history than most realize. Some think back to the days of America Online as the origin, but that was only one of the tipping points that brought it into our consciousness. It was goes back much further to the time when the space program was hitting stride and computers were still huge machines in…

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory (MCWL) have been working on the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) for years. This creepy, “thinking” robot is designed to help troops carry equipment on terrain that is normally not suitable for vehicles. The latest advancements are demonstrated below, showing improved maneuverability, voice commands, stability controls, and recovery abilities. When it falls, it can get back up. Fortunately, it doesn’t fall very often even in difficult terrain. In this video, they demonstrate the ability…

There have been many innovations in recent months that have blown us away from the world of robotics. If there’s one common theme between the Smart Bird and other robots that have gone from our dreams (or nightmares) to reality in recent months is the constant embracing of natural movement and style when creating movement. The same can be said about DARPA’s “Cheetah” which recently broke the speed record for legged robots. At 18mph, this machine will both amaze you and possibly scare you in a Japanese horror movie way. …