The marines have been using the robot during military exercises. Image Credit: DoD / DARPA / US Marines
Boston Dynamics' all-terrain four-legged robot has been joining US marines on their training exercises.
The dog-like robot, which was originally developed alongside several other models by the Google-owned technology company Boston Dynamics, is now being tested out by marines in Quantico, Virginia in the hope that it can be used as a support platform for military operations.
"Spot is great and has exceeded the metrics that we've provided," said Cpt James Pineiro, head of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. "We see it as a great potential for the future dismounted infantry."
"We want to continue to experiment with quadruped technology and find ways that this can be employed to enhance the Marine Corps war-fighting capabilities."
The robotic dog is particularly adept at crossing uneven terrain and could help to save lives by entering potentially unsafe environments ahead of the soldiers during a military engagement.
It's also possible that some of DARPA's other recent inventions, including a walking humanoid robot called Atlas, could go on to see use on the battlefield in the not-too-distant future.
The article stated Google owns Boston Dynamics. I also hope they do something so the operating system can't be hacked. All we 'd need was for Spot to turn on us during a situation. Im running dialup here, i often dont download the full articles due to the time involved
Please tell me you aren't being serious. First of all they kicked it to show how good it is at balancing and how quick it recovers from an unexpected obstacle. Second of all, real dogs don't have a big metal exoskeleton, so of course kicking them would just be really heartless and cruel. Reread the line again, the way it has been written by the reporter sounds as if it is part of the norm with having a dog.... "can run, climb stairs, jog next to its owner and even cope with being kicked.".......of course a robot can cope with being kicked, its a robot, so why mention "even cope"?
Reread the line again, the way it has been written by the reporter sounds as if it is part of the norm with having a dog.... "can run, climb stairs, jog next to its owner and even cope with being kicked.".......of course a robot can cope with being kicked, its a robot, so why mention "even cope"? We need to treat them nicely. We don't want the revolt of......Dynomutt - Dog Wonder! heh, heh, heyyyyyyy!!!!!!
This technology is over 10 years old, why is it just being brought to light now? The robot dog is, pun intended, off the leash now. Field trials as it were.
d0g@gmail.com ? Btw they have test ground drones with guns, just not dogs.... Whats next ? Stealty cats with titanium claws and a really bad attitude...
d0g@gmail.com ? Btw they have test ground drones with guns, just not dogs.... Whats next ? Stealty cats with titanium claws and a really bad attitude... I really like that one!
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