Boston Dynamics Building Fast-Running Robot Cheetah, New Agile Humanoid

[phantom power]

Boston Dynamics, best known for its BigDog bionic beast and other agile machines, is developing two new robots: one will be a super fast quadruped called Cheetah, which obviously should've been named BigCat; the other is a beautifully intricate, freakishly scary full-size humanoid called T-800 Atlas.

The Cheetah robot will have a flexible spine, an articulated head and neck, and possibly a tail. Think of BigDog, bur rather than a robot mule, Cheetah will be able to accelerate rapidly and make tight turns so it can "chase or evade," the company said in a statement.

In fact, Boston Dynamics says Cheetah will sprint "faster than any existing legged robot and faster than the fastest human runners." That's a bold claim. But seeing what the company has demonstrated with BigDog, we're excited to see this cybernetic cat stepping out of their lab.

The second robot Boston Dynamics is building, the humanoid Atlas, will have a torso, two arms and two legs, and will be capable of climbing and maneuvering in rough terrain. The robot will "sometimes walk upright as a biped, sometimes turning sideways to squeeze through narrow passages," and sometimes crawl, using its hands for extra support and balance.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/boston-dynamics-building-fast-running-robot-cheetah-new-agile-humanoid

[semillama]

1. I believe Glenn Beck pointed to this

as one of the signs of the coming GLOBAL CALIPHATE.

Which must mean it's totally awesome.

[Phoonzang]

2. Um....Red Planet anyone?