Big Dog Robotic Dog/Mule

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Subject Author Date
Big Dog Robotic Dog/Mule Gordon McComb 03-22-2008
Posted by dan michaels on March 25, 2008, 11:05 am
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> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 --I'm waiting for the miniature one for Xmas
>

It's already here too.

http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=3DLittleDog


>
>or the medium-sized one
> for Battlebots, bwahaha! It'd make an awesome 'wheelchair' too, yes? Might=

> have Kamen trumped with this one!
>
> --
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 "Steamboat Ed" Haas =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 : =A0Dare me to =A0 =
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Hacking the Trailing Edge! =A0: =A0make less sense...
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0www.nmpproducts.com
> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0---Decks a-wash in a sea of words--=
-


Posted by steamer on March 25, 2008, 11:41 am
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>It's already here too.

>http://www.bostondynamics.com/content/sec.php?section=LittleDog
        --Oh wow that's extremely neat! Doesn't look like it's for sale
tho.. Gotta get on the waiting list I guess.. :-(

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Dare me to
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : make less sense...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---

Posted by Curt Welch on March 23, 2008, 2:55 pm
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> I may have linked to an older video, as I wanted one on a mainstream
> site. There is a new version of the robot, and new videos. But here's
> one of the new vids that's now on YouTube:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww
>
> The payload of the new version has been increased to 340 pounds, BTW.
> Even more impressive!
>
> -- Gordon

I was really impressed with that new work as well.

However, one thing I noticed in that video is that it seemed to be using
very different walking gaits in each segment. My assumption is that they
are developing and testing different gait algorithms for different tasks.
That's a fine thing to do, but stringing the different tests together on
the video gives the illusion that the robot is better than it is - because
it looks like it "knows" how to deal with all those different terrains by
using different walking (or jumping) techniques. No doubt, they still have
to work out how to combine multiple walking algorithms, all probably very
different, into one general system that can adjust to the task at hand
based on the situation. I suspect they still have a lot of work to do to
make that happen.

--
Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
curt@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/

Posted by John Nagle on March 24, 2008, 1:41 am
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Curt Welch wrote:
> However, one thing I noticed in that video is that it seemed to be using
> very different walking gaits in each segment. My assumption is that they
> are developing and testing different gait algorithms for different tasks.
> That's a fine thing to do, but stringing the different tests together on
> the video gives the illusion that the robot is better than it is - because
> it looks like it "knows" how to deal with all those different terrains by
> using different walking (or jumping) techniques. No doubt, they still have
> to work out how to combine multiple walking algorithms, all probably very
> different, into one general system that can adjust to the task at hand
> based on the situation. I suspect they still have a lot of work to do to
> make that happen.

No, it looks like they have that figured out. I suspect the
whole system is primarily gaitless - legs are viewed as an asset to be
used to accomplish a goal. Gait is an emergent behavior.

Step through the sequence where it slips on ice and recovers, and
pay attention to when the feet lift, when they slip and when they don't,
and the primacy of slip control over balance control over foot sequencing
over direction control. Don't think gait; think adaptive feedforward
control. Read Raibert's old "Legged Robots that Balance" and my
work from 1995.

Finally, someone is doing this right.

                                        John Nagle
                                        Animats

Posted by Gordon McComb on March 24, 2008, 11:21 am
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John Nagle wrote:
>
> Finally, someone is doing this right.

And in any case, as a "gait" it's not based on the anatomy of any animal
on earth. The legs are in an unusual pushme/pullyou configuration.

It's also interesting that the legs never stop moving, even with the
robot is keeping place.

-- Gordon

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