This Is The Freakiest Thing I’ve Ever Seen. I’m Afraid!
March 18, 2008 – 4:34 pmGizmodo gives a description of what just what this “Big Dog Quadruped Robot” is. I am really spooked, but I can’t stop watching… and watching… and watching…
still watching… and watching…
I can’t believe the guy effin kicked it… and I think I shed a tear when it slipped or tripped. There’s clearly something wrong with me.
65 Responses to “This Is The Freakiest Thing I’ve Ever Seen. I’m Afraid!”
WTF is that? It is evil looking. The kick is obscenely disturbing you are not alone in thinking that. What is big dogs purpose? It looks like bomb detection and entering… hell? It is too weird in too many ways to explain. Leave it to Michelle to leave me with my mouth on the floor.
By veronicaromm on Mar 18, 2008
I saw something like that in New Jersey once!!
By southbeachannie on Mar 18, 2008
i saw this for the first time today and it completely freaked me out too!
By Durkin on Mar 18, 2008
I wanna ride one
By Joshua on Mar 19, 2008
MICHELLE
i agree maybe this is some sort of (i robot)
this thing has an awesome sense of balance.
just imagine if its equipment consisted weapons
and maybe heat seeking devices. weird!!!
By paul on Mar 19, 2008
According to an article I read in ArmyTimes it’s being developed for use with light infantry and scout and recon applications. It will bear a lot of the equipment weight so that soldiers won’t have to, but I’m sure the applications are endless. the only problem that I know of is the noise factor. It’s not very tactical with all the gears and what not
By mekanix labs on Mar 19, 2008
You see Michelle, in this day and age we have these things called robots.
By anon on Mar 19, 2008
odd how it looks like two guys bent over and facing opposite each other.
By peppy on Mar 19, 2008
i watched this, and had a vision. later in the future, robots like these get equiped with “force fields” ( i know, sci-fi =P ) and are used in solo bombing runs. OR… maybe the stupid scientists creat an ACTUAL AI. and something goes horribly wrong, and it starts to produce more and more robots, and these things. and we end up in a world war. Humans VS. Robots. ( yes… it is sci-fi. but then again, who knows what the future has instore? )
By No one on Mar 20, 2008
@peppy
That’s exactly what I thought.
By Michelle on Mar 20, 2008
Very interesting I say! IF THEY can make this thing in a stealth mode operation. I can only imagine what it can and will do. The skeleton is defiantly scary looking. All I can think of is walking in the woods and seeing this thing walking near by at dust on a cold winterly morning. I would have to shoot it and call the game warden to see if I could tag it and take it home. LOL
By nosactivated on Mar 20, 2008
wow!
it’s beautiful
By flatline on Mar 20, 2008
wth. that was scary and at the same time unbelievable. how is it possible?
By Anand on Mar 20, 2008
Right freakin on its a mech
By Byrotech on Mar 20, 2008
At first it’s a little creepy, but after watching I realized just how amazing this thing is. What a feat of engineering — it can handle any terrain by its own corrective processing. .Wow.
By Benji on Mar 20, 2008
This robot actually made me think of the robots they had in half life 2: episode 2, their leg design is very simmilar.
By sworen on Mar 20, 2008
This is an amazing feat of engineering. The ‘freaky’ aspect comes from seeing how ‘alive’ it seems to act.
The guy kicked it to show how it would regain its own balance. That, by itself, is amazing.
By elbseattle on Mar 21, 2008
WOW!! genius. these inventors are overnight multimills.
By MIGUEL on Mar 21, 2008
Wow… Now, the incredible thing isn’t that it is a walking robot, walking robots have existed at least for a decade.
The incredible thing is the extreme precision at which it handles balance. That is what makes it seem so alive.
But I admit, it feels kind of freaky with that noise (Which sounds like a cry) and the two “horns” (Which are probably accelerometers)
By nitro2k01 on Mar 21, 2008
now all you need is some legless bastard to ride that thing and be the first cyborg cenetaur
By zach on Mar 21, 2008
imagine that you are on a battlefield… say, stuck in a trench.. BANG BANG, BANG… those were your last three bullets… think the enemy knows? what happens if they rush your trench… but just then you hear a familiar buzzing, and have enough room to peek back without getting your head blown off. YEAH! its a BigDog, carrying the ammunition you desperately need… and grenades? sweet, its almost there… you can see bullets whiz over your head and smash into the reinforced hull of the BigDog… to no avail. (man im glad they didnt send a human, or he mighta been shot to shreds) but now the bigdog is there, you grab your ammo, and waste whats left of the opposing forces.
By Maxxy B on Mar 21, 2008
The balancing is quite an achievement and I wager they obtained the algorithm from AI evolution through a faithful physics simulation.
There’s still one piece missing, though, and it’s bigger: power storage density. Eventually they’re going to need to find an alternative to gas and internal combustion to make these things really useful.
By PJ6 on Mar 21, 2008
omfg..
i just came all over my keyboard…
By ost on Mar 21, 2008
@Maxxy B:
Picture this instead:
imagine that you are on a battlefield… say, stuck in the bombed-out ruins of a market in what used to be a major population center. BANG BANG, BANG… those were your last three bullets… think the enemy knows? what happens if they rush your postion? But just then you hear a familiar buzzing, and have enough room to peek back without getting your head blown off. OH GOD, it’s a pack of BigDog-based anti-personnel robots (let’s call them… oh, I dunno, “Terminators”), decked out with pneumatic stabbing implements, diamond-blade saws that cut through steel and concrete just as easily as flesh and bone, and maybe a flamethrower or aerosolized nerve agent delivery system for good measure. It’s almost there… you can see bullets whiz over your head and smash into the reinforced hull of the BigDog… to no avail. Now the bigdog is there, and in your last moment you see the BigDog’s optical sensor arrays lock “eyes” with you, and you can’t help being fascinated by the knowledge that it feels absolutely nothing at all as it confirms its target and in less than a millisecond has decided exactly which process will be most efficient in wiping out what’s left of your unit.
By Some Guy on Mar 21, 2008
Number 5 ALIVE!!!!!
That thing was the coolest robot I have ever seen! Too bad it will be used to kill, in a most efficient, heartless manner ! One last comment,It needs better feet. It had a hard time navigating up a snowy hill( one rocket blast on a slow moving target and its gone) and over ice. Another thing..the guy that kicked it..I hope it does come alive like the robot in the movie and kick the shit out of him!!
By Matthew on Mar 22, 2008
amazing. my god.
By mychael on Mar 23, 2008
it walks like a horse. maybe you could ride it like one if you put a saddle on it.
By jeff on Mar 23, 2008
What The Fuck is that thing? I have no idea what the hell is is but I felt empathy when that bastard kicked it. I’d like to kick him a couple of times. How does if feel you fuck???
Leave the mutated machine of sorts alone just like Britney…HEH
By Rachel on Mar 23, 2008
This thing is amazing! But very creepy! Wish I could have one of these while backpacking!
By Damien Lloyd on Mar 23, 2008
It is an awesome piece of technology and it is NOT new. I saw this clip nearly two years ago. FYI: The guy DIDN’T “kick” it — he pushed it with his foot to demonstrate the incredible balance the thing has. Those who are aghast at the man “kicking” it, and getting upset when it stumbled or lost its balance are seriously deluding themselves and projecting their own anthropomorphic sentiments onto a non-living thing — albeit an incredibly life-like one. Come on people! It is a ROBOT, and a pretty advanced one at that — at least in terms of its ability to navigate and self-propel — and that is ALL it is. It is not “freaky” or “frightening”. It is incredibly interesting and even a bit amusing.
By Collier Hageman on Mar 24, 2008
If you regard it as an animal, yes it could be quite unsettling. But if you watch it as a programmer, the movements are just a series of repetitive patterns combined with reactions to obstacles introduced externally, like the ‘kick’ to test balance recovery or even more complex, the icy parking spot.
Are there really people who think this is a living creature? Wow. More science in the schools, guys.
By judy h on Mar 24, 2008
You know that soon robots will take over the world when they have a better balance than you.
By ze on Mar 24, 2008
First thing that goes trough my head seeing this thing… 4 legged ‘Hunter’ (Half Life 2 ep2)
scary indeed.
But oh so cool! The kick was a nice demonstration of how well this thing moves and keeps balance.
BTW the noise probably wont be there in the eventual product… That sounds like a gas powered generator for power… and is absent in the lab tests where power is provided by all the cables.
By DF on Mar 24, 2008
the kick was a test to show that its stable…just watch it its common sense
By Stephan on Mar 24, 2008
Excellent machine! With balance like that it’d be perfect for searching for earthquake survivors.
By KageTora on Mar 24, 2008
I was a scout in the ARMY, and if they can’t it to be quiet its useless to me. It would work if it was quiet. But really we didn’t carry more than we are trained to carry. GOOD JOB!! I loved it!
By Brandon Cunningham on Mar 25, 2008
Fat people/handicaps might be able to get around using these things. People can use them to carry around stuff. Sound level, its price and availability must be fixed for that to happen though.
This made me think about the rich people being carried around in Rome by slaves a long, long time ago.
By MackanZoor on Mar 25, 2008
I realize the cost of such a machine must be enourmos but I have not seen a better way for a handicapped person to get out in the bush in all kinds of weather. If this thing could carry weight modifications to accommodate a passenger should be simple. Probably not the type of comment you are looking for
By styxxman on Mar 25, 2008
It is two guys facing one another. doh.
By bianca on Mar 25, 2008
Why is it that the women can easily see that it’s 2 people facing each other, but the “men” insist on seeing real robots??
By Female on Mar 25, 2008
Female, I think it’s the hidden chainsaws they’re carrying. Us guys interpret that as ‘robot sounds’.
By Sayne on Mar 25, 2008
WTF are you talking about freaky, it’s a robot come on!
By james on Mar 25, 2008
though it reminds me of something off of half life 2
By james on Mar 25, 2008
METAL GEAR
By chris on Mar 25, 2008
Next Gen! Just keep the military away from it!
By wehauntyou on Mar 25, 2008
It’s designed to carry supplies on and off battlefields. OLD.
By Jason on Mar 26, 2008
Wehauntyou: “Keep it away”.. The military are *sponsoring* the project. But don’t you worry, I’m sure they will find a TON of peaceful uses for this thing. Like spreading democracy. One person at a time.
By Maox on Mar 26, 2008
Fantastic, I’ve never seen a machine that could react and recover that way. The possibilities are endless…
By badger on Mar 26, 2008
Thins like this will solve most of our problems, but in the and they will control us.
By me on Mar 26, 2008
Thins like this will solve most of our problems, but in the and they will control us.
By me on Mar 26, 2008
Big Dog is a robotic pack mule for military uses. It can carry u 340 pound load (I believe it is carrying a load in the video too). It is designed to be able to follow troops anywhere they go, and remain standing no matter what.
By Alex on Mar 26, 2008
Replace the noisy engine by a Lit-ion battery and you ve got a complet undetectable War Machine !
By Ekimoze51 on Mar 27, 2008
My roommate made that robot! Yes, he’s very smart! He also raises clownfish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdiqstNPV4Y
(I probably shouldn’t spill any beans about the project, though.)
By saurabh on Mar 27, 2008
It’s a moose crossed with a housefly and trained to carry stuff. I plan to make one next time I can find a female moose in season.
By Don on Mar 27, 2008
Did the electronic dog from Fahrenheit 441 come to anyone else’s mind?
I am seriously spooked.
By lardface on Mar 29, 2008
Amazing. About as good as you can get. All they have to do now is sort out that engine noise, and this could be stealthy. All sorts of hideous military uses could be thought of, and almost none for civilians, apart from carrying your shopping home. Now all we need is skynet to become self aware, and mankinds fate is sealed. yum
By Jimbo on Mar 29, 2008
poor guy… slippin’ all over the place.
By anon on Mar 29, 2008
this was on history channel once…
its one off the design for robotic transport for supplies and stuff i think
By haxxxxq on Mar 30, 2008
SomeGuy: Amazing job at instilling fear-mongering. It’s just what the conservative America needs for already alienating growing technology.
By Lukas on Apr 5, 2008
I agree with [Lardface],
This is the hound from Fahrenheit 451.
But on first glance at the vid before it played, it looked like a huge robotic house fly (or a little tiny fly too close to the camera)
.
Amazing all the same though…
By JJdaCool on Apr 11, 2008
Fetch my newspaper please.
By Dave on Apr 15, 2008
Figures that it would be used as some type of damn military BS. If anything this is a great advancement in technology and people should appreciate that they even are able to witness mankind making such steps. Furthermore, this would be ideal in space planetary exploration’s. I personally feel that we spend/waste WAY to much money on obsolete purposes… As an U.S.A resident, i am sickened by the amount of money wasted on pointless war, pointless conflict with people who either have nothing to do with it, or who’s idea’s and purpose on earth is to serve a man-made religion… And it does’nt matter what religion your talking about because its all BS. Faith is one thing… but religion is another… AND, even though this guy was a damn Nazi… he makes a good point about the manipulation of man with this famous quote that i will post here…. HAVE A NICE DAY
Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. …Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.
-Herman Goering.
GODDAMN IT!
By Nate on Apr 19, 2008
If you’re afraid of that, you’re an idiot.
By hmmm on May 9, 2008
What Nate fails to realize/remember is that many of the major technological advances he (we) now take for granted in our day-to-day activities were invented because of the military. No single entity funds more R&D than the US military. From radar to Superglue and fire extinguishers and lasers and microwaves to palm-top computers — all these, and many,many more were invented by scientists and engineers working for the military. It is a fact that untold billions are spent on/by the military, and some of it IS waste no question, while public schools in many parts of the country are in miserable shape, and this is a beyond a shame — it must be some sort of sin. But don’t be hypocritical and post hyperbole on a website railing against military spending using your computer that was developed chiefly because of the military.
By Collier Hageman on Jul 21, 2008
Collier, so true…
and also an example of military tech, “wow a computer that can fit in a single room.”
Computers at one point in history took up entire warehouses and could only do simple math (2+2=duh!), and were mainly compacted do to the need of the space programs…
……. My-oh-my this robo dog is a far cry and achievement from those early days.
(oh and by the way, today I saw some usb 1TB hard-drives for only $165 in an electronics ad, yikes……)
By JJdaCool on Jul 21, 2008