Bostondynamics.com... hard at work using your tax dollars to build increasingly powerful, creepy robots that are slowly getting scarier and scarier. I've feature the "Big Dog" video Click - (caution autoplays with sound)here before,



but check out the other three beasties they've been Frankensteining.....





RHex
The Rugged Robot that Devours Rough Terrain


RHex is a man-portable robot with extraordinary rough terrain mobility. RHex climbs over rock fields, mud, sand, vegetation, railroad tracks, telephone poles and up steep slopes and stairways. RHex has a sealed body, making it fully operational in wet weather, in muddy and swampy conditions, and it can swim on the surface or dive underwater. RHex's remarkable terrain capabilities have been validated in independent testing at US Government Labs.

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RiSE: The Amazing Climbing Robot


RiSE is a small six-legged robot that climbs vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences. RiSE’s feet have claws, micro-claws or sticky material, depending on the climbing surface. RiSE changes posture to conform to the curvature of the climbing surface and a fixed tail helps RiSE balance on steep ascents. RiSE is about 0.25 m long, weighs 2 kg, and travels 0.3 m/s.

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And the slowest, but smartest grandfather... Littledog..

The Legged Learning Robot


LittleDog is a quadruped robot for research on learning locomotion. Scientists at leading institutions use LittleDog to probe the fundamental relationships among motor learning, dynamic control, perception of the environment, and rough terrain locomotion.

LittleDog has four legs, each powered by three electric motors. The legs have a large range of motion and workspace. The motors are strong enough for dynamic locomotion, including climbing. The onboard PC-level computer does sensing, actuator control and communications. LittleDog's sensors measure joint angles, motor currents, body orientation and foot/ground contact. Control programs access the robot through the Boston Dynamics Robot API. Onboard lithium polymer batteries allow for 30 minutes of continuous operation without recharging. Wireless communications and data logging support remote operation and analysis. LittleDog development is funded by the DARPA Information Processing Technology Office.

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Somebody please take these guys out and show them the "Terminator" movies. Please.