Robot Dog, One of, Field Use

Posted 7 Jan 2004 at 15:05 UTC by steve

The US Army TACOM group is spending $2.25 million on research projects aimed at building robot dogs that can carry a soldier's field equipment and keep up with the soldier over any terrain. Right now, each man has to carry up to 100 pounds of ammunition, food, and equipment. The long term challenge is making a four legged robot that can move as fast and quietly as a man over any terrain. The immediate challenge is making a four legged robot big enough for the job that doesn't fall over and doesn't need an internal combustion engine for power. For more, see Noah Shachtman's interesting article on the program in Wired.

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Update - artist's conception of the robo, posted 7 Jan 2004 at 16:30 UTC by steve » (Master)

Noah just emailed this link to a sketch of what the dog might look like along with a cut-away diagram showing the insides of an internal combustion powered dog.

Why not a real dog?, posted 7 Jan 2004 at 17:33 UTC by jimbo » (Journeyer)

I was hoping this question would be addressed in the article, but it wasn't. Wouldn't a real dog work pretty well?

I guess gasoline is easier to carry than kibble.