Boston Dynamics ‘Big Dog’ robot – the 21st Century Army pack mule April 17, 2009

Boston Dynamics is based in Waltham, MA. The Big Dog robot’s development was funded by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US government. Early in the company’s history, it worked with the American Systems Corporation under a contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) to replace naval training videos for aircraft launch operations with interactive 3D computer simulations.

Marc Raibert is the company’s president and principal project manager. He spun the company off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992.

The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth
BigDog is the alpha male of the Boston Dynamics family of robots. It is a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads. BigDog is powered by a gasoline engine that drives a hydraulic actuation system. BigDog’s legs are articulated like an animal’s, and have compliant elements that absorb shock and recycle energy from one step to the next. BigDog is the size of a large dog or small mule, measuring 1 meter long, 0.7 meters tall and 75 kg weight.

Take a peek at Boston Dynamic’s other quadraped robot, “Little Dog”