Boston Dynamics Robotic 'Wildcat'

Whoa: Boston Dynamics Announces New "WildCat" Quadruped - IEEE Spectrum

Boston Dynamics has just updated its YouTube channel with some new videos. One of them is an update on Atlas. Another is an update on LS3. And the third is this: WildCat, a totally new quadruped robot based on Cheetah, and out of nowhere, there's this video of it bounding and galloping around outdoors, untethered, at up to 16 miles an hour.

Source: Whoa: Boston Dynamics Announces New "WildCat" Quadruped - IEEE Spectrum

DARPA's Legged Squad Support System (LS3)

LS3 - Legged Squad Support System - YouTube

The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) is a rough-terrain robot developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA and the US Marine Corps. It is designed to carry 400 lbs of payload and travel 20 miles without refueling. LS3 has sensors that let it follow a human leader while avoiding obstacles in the terrain. For more information visit www.BostonDynamics.com.

Source: LS3 - Legged Squad Support System - YouTube

Legged Squad Support System (LS3)

LS3 seeks to demonstrate that a highly mobile, semi-autonomous legged robot can carry 400 lbs of a squad’s load, follow squad members through rugged terrain and interact with troops in a natural way, similar to a trained animal and its handler.

The LS3 program goal is to develop a robot that will go through the same terrain the squad goes through without hindering the squad’s mission. The robot could also serve as a mobile auxiliary power source to the squad, so troops can recharge batteries for radios and handheld devices while on patrol.

Additional Information

• DARPA’s Four-Legged Robots Walk Out For Capabilities Demonstration
• DARPA’S LEGGED SQUAD SUPPORT SYSTEM (LS3) TO LIGHTEN TROOPS’ LOAD

Related Programs

• Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM)
• DARPA Robotics Challenge
• Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3)
• Revolutionizing Prosthetics

Source: Legged Squad Support System (LS3)

Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.

Boston Dynamics builds advanced robots with remarkable behavior: mobility, agility, dexterity and speed. We use sensor-based controls and computation to unlock the capabilities of complex mechanisms. Our world-class development teams take projects from initial concept to proof-of-principle prototyping to build-test-build engineering, to field testing and low-rate production.

Source: Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.

Boston Dynamics has assembled an extraordinary team to develop the LS3, including engineers and scientists from Boston Dynamics, Bell Helicopter, AAI Corporation, Carnegie Mellon, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Woodward HRT.

Source: Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.

Related

Boston Dynamics' Bigger BigDog: LS3 - Legged Squad Support Systems

Clipped from: IEEE Spectrum: Boston Dynamics Wins Darpa Contract To Develop LS3 Robot Mule (It's a Bigger BigDog)

Boston Dynamics Wins Darpa Contract To Develop LS3 Robot Mule (It's a Bigger BigDog)

A bigger BigDog is coming.

Boston Dynamics, developer of BigDog and PETMAN, announced today that it has won a Darpa contract to develop a new robot mule to help soldiers on foot carry gear in the field.

The robot, called Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, will be able to navigate rough terrain, carrying 180 kilograms (~400 pounds) of load and enough fuel for missions covering 32 kilometers (~20 miles) and lasting 24 hours.

Clipped from: YouTube - Boston Dynamics Big Dog (new video March 2008)

Boston Dynamics Big Dog

Clipped from: Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.

LS3 - Legged Squad Support Systems

LS3 is a dynamic robot designed to go anywhere Soldiers and Marines go on foot. Each LS3 will carry up to 400 lbs of gear and enough fuel for missions covering 20 miles and lasting 24 hours. LS3 will not need a driver, because it will automatically follow a leader using computer vision or travel to designated locations using sensing and GPS. The development of LS3 will take 30 months, with first walk out scheduled for 2012. The development of LS3 is being funded by DARPA and the US Marine Corps.

Clipped from: DARPA Begins Legged Squad Support System Program

DARPA Begins Legged Squad Support System Program

Following this initial LS3 design and build phase, DARPA and the Marine Corps will review the results and determine future program phases that may lead to full LS3 integration and experimentation with operational platforms.

 

The program is a joint effort between DARPA's Tactical Technology Office (TTO) and the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL). The program goal is to develop a walking quadruped platform that will augment squads by carrying traditional and new equipment autonomously.

These platforms will be capable of managing complex terrain where tactical vehicles are not able to go-lightening the load of Marines and Soldiers and increasing their combat capability.

Clipped from: DARPA Develops 4-Legged Robot to Haul Equipment Over Rugged Terrain

Key characteristics of the LS3 program include:

• Quadruped platform development: a deployable walking platform with sufficient payload capacity, range, endurance, and low noise signature for dismounted squad support, while keeping weight and volume scaled to the squad level.

• Walking control: control techniques that allow walking, trotting, and running/ bounding and capabilities to jump obstacles, cross ditches, recover from disturbances, and other discrete mobility features.

• User interface (to include perception technologies): the ability for the robot to perceive and traverse its immediate terrain environment autonomously with simple methods of control.

Sources:

1. IEEE Spectrum: Boston Dynamics Wins Darpa Contract To Develop LS3 Robot Mule (It's a Bigger BigDog)
2. YouTube - Boston Dynamics Big Dog (new video March 2008)
3. Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.
4. DARPA Begins Legged Squad Support System Program
5. DARPA Develops 4-Legged Robot to Haul Equipment Over Rugged Terrain

Related:

1. DARPA - Tactical Technology Office (TTO)
2. Robot Pack Mule to Carry Loads for G.I.s on the Move: Scientific American
3. Legged Squad Support System Monster BigDog Robot: Science Fiction in the News
4. BigDog Is Going to War - ls3 - Gizmodo
5. Legged Squad Support System (LS3) - DARPA-BAA-08-71 (Archived) - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities

LittleDog -- Boston Dynamics' Legged Locomotion Learning Robot (videos)

clipped from www.bostondynamics.com LittleDog - The Legged Locomotion Learning Robot LittleDog is a quadruped robot designed for research on learning locomotion. Scientists at leading institutions use LittleDog to probe the fundamental relationships among motor learning, dynamic control, perception of the environment, and rough-terrain locomotion. clipped from www.bostondynamics.com clipped from www.bostondynamics.com clipped from www.youtube.com February 26, 2007 clipped from www.youtube.com September 18, 2007 clipped from www.youtube.com August 21, 2008 clipped from www.youtube.com February 16, 2009 clipped from www.youtube.com June 19, 2009 clipped from www.youtube.com September 20, 2009 clipped from en.wikipedia.org Boston Dynamics Boston Dynamics is a small engineering and robotics design company best known for the development of BigDog, a quadruped robot designed for the U.S. military with funding from DARPA,[1] and DI-Guy, COTS software for realistic human simulation. Early in the company's history, it worked with the American Systems Corporation under a contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) to replace naval training videos for aircraft launch operations with interactive 3D computer simulations featuring DI-Guy characters.[2]

Sources:

1. Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.
2. LittleDog.png (PNG Image, 510x343 pixels)
3. LittleDog_Render.png (PNG Image, 512x343 pixels)
4. YouTube - LittleDog de Boston Dynamics
5. YouTube - LittleDog Robot
6. YouTube - LittleDog at MIT
7. YouTube - LittleDog
8. YouTube - 090619 LL IHMC Phase3 Compilation
9. YouTube - LittleDog Clips and Outtakes
10. Boston Dynamics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Related:

1. Stumbling, Bumbling LittleDog Can Tiptoe Across Tops of Cylinders | Popular Science
2. LittleDog Navigates Ruff Terrain | BotJunkie
3. LittleDog | BotJunkie
4. Katie Byl
5. News Office
6. Boston Dynamics: Dedicated to the Science and Art of How Things Move.

LittleDog and BigDog -- Legged Learning Robots

Boston Dynamics keeps working on their Legged robots: LittleDog a quadruped robot for research on learning purposes locomotion and BigDog a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads.

clipped from blogs.spectrum.ieee.org Automaton Scoop: New video of BDI's Big Dog robot Boston Dynamics has just released a brand new video of their DARPA-funded Big Dog robot. Big Dog, the older brother of the Little Dog robot we covered a while back, is meant to be a "pack mule" for soldiers some day. Behind Big Dog is some pretty cool force-controlled technology. With its quadruped gait it can regain balance if it's kicked, handle rough terrain like rocks, and climb inclines up to 35 deg. clipped from www.bostondynamics.com The Legged Learning Robot LittleDog is a quadruped robot for research on learning locomotion. Scientists at leading institutions use LittleDog to probe the fundamental relationships among motor learning, dynamic control, perception of the environment, and rough terrain locomotion. clipped from blogs.spectrum.ieee.org clipped from www.bostondynamics.com The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. clipped from blogs.spectrum.ieee.org

Related:
Scoop: New video of BDI's Big Dog robot - Automaton: IEEE Spectrum's blog on robots and robotics technology
Boston Dynamics: The Leader in Lifelike Human Simulation
Boston Dynamics: The Leader in Lifelike Human Simulation
It's not about the dog's hardware! - Automaton: IEEE Spectrum's blog on robots and robotics technology
Weird: New Video of BigDog Quadruped Robot Is So Stunning It's Spooky