Remember BigDog? You know, the robot that stumbled around and could navigate rough terrain like a living creature. Well, the newest version of the dog robot incorporates yet another aspect of a dog: behavior.
Made by Boston Dynamics, funded by DARPA, and called AlphaDog, the latest version can actually follow a person around, like a loyal pet. And it’s also a much better version: it can walk 20 miles without resting, carry 400 pounds, and it’s 20 times quieter than the BigDog, making it more efficient as a military tool.
The robot is connected to a Tactical Robot Controller which allows a person to control it. Also, the AlphaDog is sensitive and can provide its status through the controller.
In the future, the Marines want to be able to connect the AlphaDog to their radios, so that possibly, the AlphaDog can even communicate back to soldiers. Maybe it’ll even be able to obey orders, like “sit,” or “stay,” in the future. Whatever the improvements, the distance between biorobots and real animals is getting smaller and smaller. Just look at all the cool things that robots can do already.
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