Ok so uh...this is exciting but to be honest this is the most horrifying thing I have ever seen. LittleDog is the youthie version of BigDog, a robotic quadruped that can not only walk and move on all fours, but it can walk over rocky, unstable terrain, right itself when knocked over, and basically band together with other BigDog's to parade down the streets enforcing the city-wide curfew.
Both "Dogs" are being developed under DARPA's robot locomotion initiative at USC. LittleDog has apparently learned some of BigDog's tricks, including the ability to assess the viability of a foothold and adjust its footstep accordingly. If this thing learns to climb walls I'm moving to South America-- I'm not trying to be here long enough to see a T-800 walking one of these down the street. "Can I pet your emotionless quadrupedal killingbot?"
Every time I read an article like this I want to either get like 20 of my own or just hope that while I'm on stumbleupon, that I'll come across some blueprints for a laser cannon. Either way, the implications of robotics are on both sides of a tightrope and it's pretty windy if you catch my drift.
Click here to go to Gizmodo for an unnerving video of this thing in action:
LittleDog Learns Several Terrifying New Tricks.
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