DARPA
Government being government, of course they didn't give it a name that cool. What you're seeing there is the Legged Squad Support System, or LS3. Designed to carry up to 400 lbs of equipment, this thing walks, follows, takes voice commands, can navigate between obstacles and roll back up to its feet on the offchance that any of our enemies develop mini-Snowspeeders with tripwires.
Development and testing is continuing throughout 2014. Can ED-209 be far behind?
Video of the LS3 in action after the jump...
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63 comments
not this bullshit again .... it's doctored with CGI.
it's pretty god damned good CGI, but still CGI. I'm pretty sure that the body is physically real but they have it suspended by a crane and add in the legs with CGI ... notice how the ground where it steps is always sort of blurry when it kicks crap up? or how about how the shadow underneath it never distinctly shows an outline of the robot, esp the legs .... it's just this sort of gray patch that follows along underneath and if you watch carefully there are parts where it pops forward after lagging a bit behind after the robot moves on.
at 2:15 it rolls down the hill, at 2:20 it stands back up .... keep your eyes on the ground below it when it does so for some really bad pixelation as they edit the ground to add in the visual effects.
@FakeAssName Sorry it's real.
As a vfx artist I can easily say this would take WAY too much tracking, dynamics, roto/paint work, ect.
The random bluriness/pixelation is due to the bit depth of the upload...but I can see where things like lens distortion along with the unnatural movement of the beast can make it seem a little cg. But it's real.
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Well, I think it's safe to safe to say that 2013 is off to a damn good start. Let's just hope that the forces of evil don't create any mutated turtles to combat this...http://youtu.be/Z7jYudbFrD4
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Military cows are nothing new...
http://www.newyorkshitty.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/top-secret-cow-2.jpghttp://
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Does anyone else remember an old computer game called "M. U. L. E."
The object was to use a four legged robot to mine or farm and alien planet. This just reminds me of that. Carry on.
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@LYT Cow puns are udderly horrible...however seeing as this is a military bovine, I guess they're just a bomb in a bull.
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Oooh the marines have a cow! How scary! Oh boy!!
Bah! Call me when the marines get a rhino!
http://www.40kforums.com/imageupload/images/img4b87b6b09317e.jpg
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http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m619euctdC1qjag6vo1_400.gifThey have one they are just trying to perfect the exit
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The question is, can it perform ALL the functions of a Robocow???
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3yom7pKfr1r4ih1po1_500.png
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@10glfan59 I guess you could mount a fleshlight on the thing and order it to backup
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blah blah blah
The only thing you need to know is that you can mount a Ma Deuce with a few thousand rounds on the thing
I guarantee the first thing the grunts will do is strip off the gear and use it to hump around a pintle mounted M2 Browning .50 (aka The Argument Ender) the robot won't shoot the gun - it will just carry it for the ground pounders
Yes, it's nice to have more food and ammo and water and "stuff" but what you really need is to be able to shoot through reinforced concrete walls a mile away
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also they'll use the things to test for minefields
"Follow Tight my ass - get out front robot and see what 'splodes."
seriously I think the grunts are going to love this thing - I hope the legs are cheap and easy to swap out
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@Gallen_Dugall I say we resize these robots to stand about 70+ feet tall with a few modifications, and ta-da! Real-life AT-ATs!
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@TheConjurerOfCheapTricks or we could keep them the same size and man them with the robot squirrels that are in the next video
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@TheConjurerOfCheapTricks The AT-AT is a better then some other options they can do.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m85ku0FsB11r5leuuo1_400.gif
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I think this is great. Let's see it go down the Grand Canyon like those mules. If it makes it? I will approve of this. Because you know they need my approval.
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Looks like Boston Dynamic's "Big Dog."
They've been working on a functional version for some five years now...
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@8Bit_Zombi This seems to have something directly to do with Boston Dynamics... take a look at the rear end of the machine at 0:55 in the video. EDIT: Did a little bit of searching- it is BigDog. DARPA put their support and funding behind this project.
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Edit session expired. I was going to add that this particular robot (the LSSS) happens to be the descendant of the first BigDog, and is part of the BigDog project.
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I remember see, if not this something similar, to what I thought they had nicknamed Mule. If I recall right the big thing was that they were programming it to lie so that if it got lost or the operator was killed the robot would not just go back to the base letting the enemy just follow it.
I believe this will be like the Flying Platform of the fifties. Seemed like a good idea but not practical. I guess time will tell.
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I gotta ask LYT, are you waking earlier for us? I saw posts started in your zone at 6:45am. That's early man.
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@arivalscientist @LYT @Lithroe I always preferred the terms bratty and self centered myself. Wait! There is more then an East Coast?
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@arivalscientist @LYT @Lithroe Any extra work I make for myself can feel like self-loathing at times.
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@Lithroe @LYT We all have those moments when we look like this.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt191y7Uca1qle2ioo1_500.gif
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@Someguy @Lithroe Pretty good, got the Bond 50 set. That took up time, quite a bit was spent babysitting my 3 year old nephew. If people think working out is boring, babysit a 3 year old. It'll do wonders for your figure.
