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Big Dog is a famous and incredible robot that made his debut on the Internet more than a year ago (which is probably why I didn’t write about it yet) with this video from BoingBoing:

I guess it needs no further explanation, but it’s a robot that has a very complex balancing system that allows it to move on irregular terrain.

Anyways, despite it being an incredible achievement (or maybe exactly because of that).. but specially because of it’s somewhat quirky funny movement it even got a parody “beta version”:

In 2008 a new video was released showing Big Dog’s ability to keep up even on ice and snow:

Maybe it doesn’t look like too much, but this is something several robot developers are trying to achieve for a long long time. Not only Big Dog can walk on very irregular terrain, but it’s also able to maintain it’s balance even on situations we can’t.

Which is why the military took interest in it:

Mostly to carry heavy loads on the field.

But I’m hoping for more civilian applications when Big Dog get’s less noisy and cheaper… if that’s even possible.
Big Dog was developed by Boston Dynamics.

Source: Gizmodo