The last time we saw AlphaDog, Darpa's quadrupedic, autonomous robo-beast designed to haul military gear, the big lug was scampering around in the lab. Now, however, AlphaDog's been let off his leash.
In the video above, released this week by Darpa and Boston Dynamics, the company behind the 'bot, AlphaDog can be seen undergoing its first-ever outdoor assessment.
The robot, designed to be an upgrade of Boston Dynamic's BigDog, can haul hundreds of pounds of gear and rove for miles – including over rugged terrain – before tiring out. Plus, AlphaDog is designed to be stealthier (well, as stealthy as an enormous, headless robotic mule can be) than its predecessor, and even stand up after taking a spill on uneven terrain.
AlphaDog's wilderness workout was meant to test many of those impressive features: The 'bot proved capable of lugging 400 pounds of gear, logging 20 miles without refueling, and successfully using sensors to follow a human leader's direction. But Darpa's also after some even freakier capabilities, according to the agency's write-up of the tests. They want to imbue AlphaDog with "hearing technology," so that squad members can "speak commands ... such as 'stop,' 'sit,' or 'come here.'"
Of course, AlphaDog's primary use will be lugging gear, so that soldiers don't have to. But hey, combat can be lonely. That's why Darpa also hopes the 'bot will "interact with [soldiers] in a natural way, similar to the way a trained animal and its handler interact."
