It’s an “It’s not Halo” double feature! “Wildcat” is a robot developed by Boston Dynamics that can gallop, “bound”, and turn and drop on a dime. Seeming a cross between their LS3 and Cheetah models, it is uncannily alive-like, and seems to have a personality of it’s own. Watch it in action in the following video and see if it doesn’t remind you somewhat of a Halo 4 Crawler, wearing a Ricochet helmet even.
Meet WildCat: The Galloping, Bounding Robot Animal
The LS3 and BigDog models look similar to Wildcat, but are much larger and slower. LS3 is a rough-terrain robot designed to go anywhere Marines and Soldiers can on foot. It’s designed to carry 400 lbs of equipment and enough
fuel to make a 20 mile, 24 hour mission. BigDog, who carries the title “The Most Advanced Rough-Terrain Robot on Earth”, has legs that are taller and more articulated than the LS3 model. It can also navigate through snow and water, run at 4 mph and carry 340 lbs. The Cheetah, which can reach speeds surpassing 29 mph breaking the world record, is set to be unleashed for testing this coming spring (it’s still hooked up to hydraulics, running on a treadmill, but oh so cool!)And then there’s RiSE, “The Amazing Climbing Robot”. This robot also seems part Crawler, as it scales vertical walls with ease using micro-claws. With it’s six legs and tail it looks like some sort of awesome space-lizard. It can climb buildings, trees – it’s body can even change posture to navigate some changes in terrain.
Two humanoid robots in development at Boston Dynamics are Atlas and Petman. Atlas is a high-tech humanoid, worker robot, and PETMAN helps test and validate protective gear for chemical warfare agents by mimicking humans movements and wear and tear – – it even “sweats”.
Alright, Boston Dynamics, for your next model may I suggest the Watcher? A big, buzzing protective robot that zaps anyone who threatens you and can pick you up and haul you to safety if you need to get outta Dodge? One can dream, one can dream…
See Boston Dynamics robots and learn more at their official site >>
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