14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like a dog, walks like a dog... must be a robot! BigDog is a quadrupled robot created by Boston Dynamics, powered by a hydraulic system, run by a gasoline engine and controlled by a computer which monitors its every move in relation to the environment, through movement sensors. It weighs 74 kilograms, has almost a meter in length and stands 70 centimeters tall, bearing a slight resemblance to a small mule or a big dog.
The on-board computer controls its movement with the help of information input from the movements sensors and is able to adapt to various conditions. BigDog is able to maintain its balance even in inhospitable terrain, while carrying a payload of 153 kilograms on its back. It can basically maneuver itself through any type of terrain, whether icy parking lots or snowy hill sides and can even maintain balance when faced with man-made obstacles.
The build of the BigDog robot began in 1992 with the launch of Boston Dynamics, a company specialized in creating robotics and human simulations, however the original idea was developed by Marc Reibert and his colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was focused at the time in creating robots that simulate animals' movement.
Since the establishment of the company, Boston Dynamics has developed a series of robotics and human simulations, collaborated with the Sony Corporation on a number of projects and has now created BigDog with the help of funding from the Defense Research Project Agency.
Amongst some of the previous robots created by Boston Dynamics, we can find RHex, also an all-terrain robot that can be operated from distances of up to 600 meters. Unlike BigDog which packs four legs, RHex was designed to have six legs and can travel on surfaces such as rock, mud or even over railroad tracks, without losing balance.
In the human simulations field, Boston Dynamics created a series of robots to maintain security in hostile environments around buildings or streets that are covered with land mines or incendiary devices that are hard to spot with the human eye.