BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped robot created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station.
History
BigDog is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles. Instead of wheels or treads, BigDog uses four legs for movement, allowing it to move across surfaces that would defeat wheels. The legs contain a variety of sensors, including joint position and ground contact. BigDog also features a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system.
BigDog is 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, stands 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) tall, and weighs 75 kilograms (170 lb), about the size of a small mule. It is capable of traversing difficult terrain at 5.3 kilometres per hour (3.3 mph), carry 154 kilograms (340 lb) and climb a 35 degree incline. Locomotion is controlled by an onboard computer that receives input from the robot's various sensors. Navigation and balance are also managed by the control system.
BigDog was featured in an episode of Web Junk 20, as well as articles in New Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and The Wall Street Journal.
On March 18, 2008, Boston Dynamics released video footage of a new generation of BigDog. The footage shows BigDog's ability to walk on icy terrain and recover its balance when kicked from the side.
Hardware
Big Dog is powered by a two-stroke, one-cylinder, 15-HP go-kart engine running at 9000 RPM. The engine drives a hydraulic pump, which in turn drives the hydraulic leg actuators. Each leg has four actuators (two for the hip joint, and one each for the knee and ankle joints), for a total of 16. Each actuator unit consists of a hydraulic cylinder, servovalve, position sensor, and force sensor.
Onboard computing power is modest: a ruggedized PC/104 board stack with a Pentium class computer running QNX(a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market).
http://www.bostondynamics.com/?section=BigDog
History
BigDog is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles. Instead of wheels or treads, BigDog uses four legs for movement, allowing it to move across surfaces that would defeat wheels. The legs contain a variety of sensors, including joint position and ground contact. BigDog also features a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system.
BigDog is 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, stands 0.7 metres (2.3 ft) tall, and weighs 75 kilograms (170 lb), about the size of a small mule. It is capable of traversing difficult terrain at 5.3 kilometres per hour (3.3 mph), carry 154 kilograms (340 lb) and climb a 35 degree incline. Locomotion is controlled by an onboard computer that receives input from the robot's various sensors. Navigation and balance are also managed by the control system.
BigDog was featured in an episode of Web Junk 20, as well as articles in New Scientist, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and The Wall Street Journal.
On March 18, 2008, Boston Dynamics released video footage of a new generation of BigDog. The footage shows BigDog's ability to walk on icy terrain and recover its balance when kicked from the side.
Hardware
Big Dog is powered by a two-stroke, one-cylinder, 15-HP go-kart engine running at 9000 RPM. The engine drives a hydraulic pump, which in turn drives the hydraulic leg actuators. Each leg has four actuators (two for the hip joint, and one each for the knee and ankle joints), for a total of 16. Each actuator unit consists of a hydraulic cylinder, servovalve, position sensor, and force sensor.
Onboard computing power is modest: a ruggedized PC/104 board stack with a Pentium class computer running QNX(a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market).
http://www.bostondynamics.com/?section=BigDog
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