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    Today in Tech

    Watch the bigger BigDog walk around without a leash, can now chase you over hills

    Two words come to mind when the AlphaDog is involved: apex predator. Sure, it's a robot and not really a predator, but it looks so terrifying it will cause just about anyone to shake in their boots. We first heard of AlphaDog late last year when DARPA originally unveiled the terrifying four-legged robot. Its already humongous predecessor, BigDog, looks positively tame next to this colossal machine.

    In the video above, you can see AlphaDog during its very first outdoor assessment, running up and down slopes…but that's not because DARPA's testing it so it can chase hapless people over hills. AlphaDog is designed to carry heavy loads, and it needs to be able to traverse all types of terrain.

    The machine will undergo more testing with the Marines in the next 18 months to ensure it can carry up to 400 lbs. throughout a 24-hour, 20-mile journey without refueling. To put its capacity in perspective, a horse can carry around 240 lbs. of load. DARPA engineers are currently working to create a much quieter motor for AlphaDog so it doesn't give its position away during a mission.

    [via CNET]

    This article was written by Mariella Moon and originally appeared on Tecca

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    10 comments

    • Todd W  •  Latrobe, Pennsylvania  •  3 mths ago
      Another step(s) for Skynet.......
    • Digital Gangsta  •  Orlando, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      It looks creepy and sounds like a 10 year old cement mixer. I guess they won't be taken on stealth missions behind enemy lines. At the same time, I'd love to have one for Halloween! I'll bet a lot of hunters would appreciate something like this dragging their deer back to their trucks!
    • Tim  •  3 mths ago
      No way is this a cargo craft, in spite of what is said by the developers, or in spite of what the developers themselves might believe. (Though I doubt they're actually confused.) It may get the odd cargo job, but that will prove the equivalent of deploying an M1A1 to deliver water to thirsty troops.

      Cargo can be much more reliably, flexibly, and quickly delivered by GPS-guided parachute. No, this will inevitably be outfitted with 400 lbs of choreographed, coordinated, sleepless search & destroy. It will simultaneously obsolete both tanks and infantry. Everything's changing.
    • Spot  •  3 mths ago
      I hope I'm not going to be replaced by a robot.
    • Marty  •  Bethpage, New York  •  3 mths ago
      Why are we spending money on this #$%$
    • Cartigan  •  3 mths ago
      I vote kill it with fire.
    • La Nita  •  Irvine, California  •  3 mths ago
      this #$%$ is retarded, and NOT SCARY AT ALL
      • DC Y 3 mths ago
        Yup, right up til it's at your front door and you're crapping yourself...
    • greene_teeth  •  Chattanooga, Tennessee  •  3 mths ago
      Channel 3 write up for the local news still has a problem in increasing text size for the body when selecting this option. The headline is still being increased which is already big enough for someone half blind like me to read. Firefighter severely injured when trying to save girlfriend was the story. Firefighter dies. Girlfriend? Nobody ever really cares about the girlfriends but I hope he does not lose his life. Walk on.
    • Hugh Jasol  •  3 mths ago
      A well placed shot to the leg and there goes your million dollar machine.
    • Told_U_so..  •  3 mths ago
      C4 taped to a magnet....done...!

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