BigDog grabs, lifts, and throws cinder blocks with its new arm

Remember the good old days when we threw things for Fido to fetch? Since Fido watched "Terminator" it's a case of "Here puny human, fetch this ... or it's hasta la vista baby".

Very impressive - but the real problem isn't neither the software, nor the mechanics of the process - is the cables hanging from above. Until a reliable powersource will not be attached to such a robot, it will remain at lab curiosity stage.

@Dan

Clearly you haven't looked at Big Dog at all except what you saw in this video, and yet made this big sweeping statements.

Its more than capable of operating beyond a 'lab curiosity'.

Since article started with the statement that BigDog has been replaced by LS3, I'm surprised the author resisted the temptation to ask, "Who says you can't teach an old Dog new tricks?" :)

the elephant now has an android counter part. love it!

I can't even imagine where Big Dog will be in 30 years. Probably on Mars.

Oh great... now after it chases you, it can catch you... and throw you.

@ Chef Borjan

having watched the video, i can just imagine that device assisting soldiers in the field - as long as their opponents are all deaf

Airport baggage handling, anyone?

Teach it how to Lay a cinder block wall ,and then you will have something. What a waste of brainpower...to build things simply to destroy...teach it to Create something !

People seem to be missing the point. The fact that during testing it is either tethered or carrying a noisy generator is completely irrelevant.

Each subsequent engineering improvement we see in big dog is another significant improvement.

The first generation could just walk, then it could walk on different inclines, then on loose rocks, then on ice.

Its control system is also able to account for sudden changes in parameters, like when a person pushed it with their foot. And it maintains balance gracefully given how top heavy it is.

This latest update is one where it can pick up a block of potentially uncertain weight and dimensions, and balance while throwing it. Just how well it does it is not obvious until you appreciate the slow motion video.

I doubt the enemy will be laughing in a decade when they see a few dozen of these things armed with flamethrowers and grenade launchers, silently creeping up on their position.

That was a pretty good throw! If it was given a club, I bet it could bash down a door. I'd like to see it jump through a picture window!

I could easily see these robots getting recruited into police & fire depts this decade. How about put a 100' winch on his back for high-rise rescue, he could clamber up the stairs through smoke and fire to where you are stranded, give you a harness, and lower you off the balcony. Then go save others.

This is not comforting at all. No good can come from a robot that can damage us from a short distance. In couple of years they may be throwing us around. Do they make personal EMP machines? I can't worry about the robots AND the zombies.