BigDog - Advanced Quadraped Robot - Video Included
 

http://www.bostondynamics.com/conten...section=BigDog

It was freaky when it started slipping on the ice. It looks so much like what a real animal would.

Damn you, this is material for The Singularity. This reminds me of how much quieter machines can become once the energy density in batteries becomes higher than that in liquid fuels. Not to mention the possibilities of bringing back technologies such as electropropulsion.

I'm pretty sure you have the ability to move threads :P

I don't know what you're talking about, but I know this thing is freaky.

I'll repost something regarding electropropulsion that I wrote in a hidden forum:


Electropropulsion is not a new technology. It was heavily studied in the 1960's by Major De Seversky. It is, in simple terms, an effective yet almost completely unused method of atmospheric propulsion. It utilizes the Bifield Brown Effect, which means a high voltage electric current passes through a wire and ionizes the surrounding air (and likely other types of atmospheric gasses). The ionized air is then attracted to a metallic material such as tin foil. The moving air generates lift or propulsion, hence the name.

Practically, this implies that a battery-powered hovercraft, car or boat could be constructed with little difficulty. Why not rig a hovercraft with effective solar panels and watch it soar through the skies without any form of input energy other than direct sunlight? Unlike modern aircraft, this produces no pollution either. In Mercurial, batteries will be extremely sophisticated, small and can contain lots of energy. This, in my opinion, makes electropropulsion a great technology for life on Sophis. No need to refuel your car with gas, just plug in your pocket-portable batteries and you're good to go!

Read more about it here: http://www.rmcybernetics.com/science...lsion/ehdt.htm
More images and videos: http://www.americanantigravity.com/lifter4.html

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On-topic: BigDog is awesome! I think its life-like appearance and movements are almost sufficient to bring it to the other side of the uncanny valley, but its diesel-engine sounds and occasional spider-esque guise are too eerie for it to be appreciated. Thus, making it electrically powered would remove its ghastly sounds, consequently rendering BigDog more appealing to... uh, soldiers?

There's a pretty cool Computer Science MA programme in Sweden which focuses on robot behavior, chaotic self-organization algorithms and other aspects of AI. I've thought about getting into it, but physics is more appealing at the moment.

When I saw this last month, it left a distinct impression: "Far too loud for millitary use"
As far as energy density, it's my understanding that fuel cells can reclaim the majority of energy in fossil fuel that could be claimed by an internal combustion engine, though I havn't actively researched this.

This thing freaks me out. Imagine if this thing was coming at you...