A Robotic Cheetah? Seriously, someone needs to stop these guys!

[CeeKay]

the BigDog was a good idea, but this? not so much.

BigDog’s makers are working on a new quadruped that moves faster than any human and is agile enough to “chase and evade.”

Boston Dynamics, maker of the Army’s BigDog robotic mule, announced today that Darpa has awarded it a contract to build a much faster and more fearsome animal-like robot, Cheetah.

they also have a humanoid one they're working on.

Meet Atlas, Cheetah’s humanoid pal. Atlas is supposed to look more or less like the T-800 series of Terminators, minus the head. Its designers say it’ll be able to walk like a human over rough terrain, crawling on its hands and knees when necessary and turning itself sideways to slip through any narrow passages it encounters. Headless, with a torso and two arms, it’s a step up from Boston Dynamics’ other biped, the lower-body-bot Petman.

[metallicorphan]

i can hear the Terminator theme music already

Ahh,its Boston Dynamics again...remember(what is probably the Cheetah's prototype..or prototype of the prototype )this Vid?,someone else posted it on here ages ago

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5349770802105160028#

[Turtle]

I love robotics, but even this echoes too much of terminator for me.

That video is of the big dog, which I think is already being deployed in testing as an equipment carrier. The version they're working on now is some crazy thing that they're trying to make more like a predatory big cat, rather than what moves like a mule.

I'm not so much worried about a robot rebellion, but rather bad programming and other human error making any attack versions of these bots go haywire.

At least we'll have exosuits by then.

[CeeKay]

arise!

they got the cheetah running up to 28.3 MPH.....

Cheetah Robot is a fast-running quadruped developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from DARPA. It just blazed past its previous speed record, getting up to 28.3 mph, about 0.5 mph faster than Usain Bolt's fastest 20 meter split. This version of the Cheetah Robot runs on a treadmill with offboard power. Testing on an untethered outdoor version starts early next year.

[Turtle]

Now, imagine 10-20 years from now, you've been drafted into the military for giant conventional war, and one of those things is running right at you at 30 mph with guns and likely nasty edge weapons to kill you.

I better have my own damn robots to shoot those things before they get close.

[raydude]

Forget being drafted. I see a Fahrenheit 451 type future where police and fire departments have their own version of 'the Hound', based on the Cheetah.

[PeteRock]

Now, imagine 10-20 years from now, you've been drafted into the military for giant conventional war, and one of those things is running right at you at 30 mph with guns and likely nasty edge weapons to kill you.

I better have my own damn robots to shoot those things before they get close.

But wait until its owner shows up.

[hepcat]

You know what they say...Cheetahs never prosper, but they're still the fastest land animal.