Makers of infamous BigDog robot unveil human version - PETMAN (w/ video)
November 1, 2011 by Bob Yirka 
(PhysOrg.com) -- Uh oh. Boston Dynamics, makers of the BigDog robot that can haul stuff around for the military has released a video of PETMAN, a human version that looks like a combination of the Terminator and a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. Maybe even scarier is the fact that it walks like John Wayne; just enough attitude to let you know he's not someone to be messed with.
Interestingly, the robot wasn’t made to scare anyone, or even to go into battle. It was designed to mimic the way human soldiers move so as to test army clothes for use in hazardous environments, i.e. chemical warfare. In addition to moving like a human being, it also simulates breathing and sweats when made to do a lot of work, like running and doing pushups. Because of its purpose, the engineers at Boston Dynamics haven’t yet completed a neck and head, which means PETMAN (Protection Ensemble Test Mannequin) has nothing on his shoulders but a blinking red light. And speaking of lights. He, or it, also has an eerie blue glow going on behind his chest plate. Not sure why, but it absolutely adds to the scariness of the big guy.
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PETMAN is just under six feet tall, and weighs close to 180 pounds, which is what you get if you average the height and weight of the average human American soldier. He’s also tethered, which softens the fear factor a bit, but not really all that much when it is recalled that BigDog was tethered when first seen on video too.Boston Dynamics was founded by some really smart people from MIT, and it’s funding for most of its projects such as this one ($26.3 million) come from the U.S. Defense Department, e.g. DARPA. And while the DoD maintains that it’s reason for paying for the creation of PETMAN is to test uniforms, it’s hardly likely that it’s interest will remain there indefinitely as it’s hard to ignore the emotional reaction that most people experience upon viewing the video. Seeing it in person, weaponized, on the battlefield, likely would inspire a new level of terror in enemy combatants and could conceivably lead to changes in the ways unconventional wars are fought. Just as is happening already with drones.
Despite the video, the days of robot warriors are still a ways off, but PETMAN will have other uses likely much sooner. Spokespeople for the company say it could also be used to assist in search and rescue operations in hazardous environments such as what was encountered in the Fukushima disaster. PETMAN is scheduled to be delivered to the Army some time next year.
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More information: http://www.bostond … _petman.html
© 2011 PhysOrg.com
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Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 4.8 / 5 (5)
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 4.3 / 5 (9)
Plus the fact that robots are really fragile. All it takes is a little bit of sand in the gears, or a blown-out O-ring on a piston and it's done. The leg goes limp; the robot falls over helpless.
People continuously repair the little wear and tear that happens, all the scratches and bumps are nothing. Stub your toe and curse for a bit, and then get on with life. The pain and swelling will subside on its own. But a robot will accumulate even the tiniest bit of chafing and turn it into a problem down the line. Every joint, every motor, every cable and connector is a potential fault just waiting to happen.
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (2)
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Not efficiency? Even taking the PS out of the equation, isn't it still much cheaper to train soldiers? (i agree in principle that we could eventually make it worth it)
Nov 01, 2011
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Thank god for that. How long until a small nuclear unit comes out using nano aligned dots of fissile material to produce enough energy to run a tank on a power supply the size of a potato?
I am sure it will happen, especially since fission power produces heat and electricity the heat can be used for hydraulic movement and the electricity for the computer hardware. They just need to put it all together at this point.
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
All, robots may be "fragile" (which I consider untrue in many circumstances based on real-life situations I've encountered) but they're also capable of interpreting key sensory input under otherwise-stressful circumstances. A sufficiently equipped robot could eliminate enemy snipers before the enemy gets a shot off, something that is already very close to reality in our tanks and personnel carriers.
Equally important, though, is the psychology of war. If I were an enemy facing robots that looked like this, I'd think twice about continuing
Nov 01, 2011
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Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (11)
Nonsense and gullibility are certainly sources of great energy.
Nov 01, 2011
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A bipedal robot may not be the most reliable or efficient machine in the world, but I have to confess an uncanny valley effect when watching PETMAN, even if we're unlikely to see humanoid armies any time soon.
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (2)
I should have added "humanoid robots are fragile".
Because you can certainly over-engineer the mechanics to withstand even the grossest abuse. It's just that it won't fit in the same form factor.
With parts the size, weight and shape of human bones, you do get things like stress fractures even in solid steel when you make the thing march mile after mile like people do. The difference is, we rest, we heal. The machine doesn't.
Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
heck make an army of dragonfly robots with poison darts.
Nov 01, 2011
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Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 0.7 / 5 (26)
Pity it failed it's last test.
Nov 01, 2011
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Nov 01, 2011
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Church Powerplants.
Nov 01, 2011
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Nov 01, 2011
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Nov 01, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (9)
Nov 01, 2011
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Check out the movie "Surrogate" a great made for TV movie also known as "The Challenge".
http://www.imdb.c.../reviews
Quite good
Nov 02, 2011
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pee power, power from pee http://www.physor...ity.html
Nov 02, 2011
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Exactly what I was thinking.
Nov 02, 2011
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Nov 02, 2011
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Nov 02, 2011
Rank: 1.2 / 5 (33)
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
Nov 02, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
See "Big Dog" for a four-legged example of exactly that.
Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. Don't they have UAVs in the netherlands? Yes, we already have dragonfly robots although I'm not sure we've equipped them with poison darts yet...
Nov 02, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
I'd like to see how it stands up to Spaceballs The Flamethrower!
Nov 02, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
The Devil Wears Pennzoil
Nov 02, 2011
Rank: 0.8 / 5 (27)
If she is nice, she could make much more than than on someone else's laptop.
Send a pic, and I'll give her some leads.
Nov 05, 2011
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Nov 05, 2011
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...Alfredo Garcia ?
Nov 05, 2011
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http://www.youtub...a_player
-Guess they didn't have comsats back then.
Nov 06, 2011
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Here is another link.
http://www.youtub...bVTIYG8E
Nov 06, 2011
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http://www.youtub...a_player
-If they would only scale these things up. Asimo doesn't come close-
Nov 06, 2011
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Rofl, I remember that one.
They need the M.A.R.K. 13 head.
http://www.youtub...qb3W9FIQ
Nov 06, 2011
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Nov 06, 2011
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Nov 06, 2011
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I was trying to post these guys above, who are apparently all head (caution - spoiler alert!)
http://www.youtub...a_player
Nov 06, 2011
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http://www.youtub...a_player
-ok I'm done.
-I see they solved the impactor problem back in the 50s too - atomic V2s, of course.
Nov 13, 2011
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With a battery pack it's one hour max. A human enemy only has to wait a wile.
J.