Carrying loads on the four-legged walking robots

The company Boston Dynamics is widely known in the robotics market due to its successful invention – enduring four-legged Big Dog. This robot is the size of a large dog to become a good help the soldiers, Marines – it can be controlled, he should go where to the right, and thus carries a payload of up to 136 kg over a distance of 20 km at 6 km / h.

In Big Dog terrain without difficulty, he walks the gravel and stone barriers, snow and water, even the icy surface does not withdraw from the robot system. In addition, special attention should be given the stability of the robot – he kept on his feet and keeps the balance even with strong mechanical shocks, not to mention the strong gusts of wind. It Big Dog set a world record for vehicles on his feet: he was able to go 20.5 km on a single refueling, without stopping. Specialists of Boston Dynamics has received an order for industrial production of such robots from DARPA and the Navy of the United States for $ 32 million

Enhanced version of the robot gets a new name – LS3 (Legged Squad Support Systems). In addition, the robot will increase the capacity and will be taught to jump over obstacles, equip cameras and-in GPS. With the help of computer pattern recognition system, the robot will go for the operator, overcoming various obstacles landscape. He will be able to independently get to the place specified by the operator using the mobile platform and a system of GPS. The robot will be designed for portability 180 kilograms of cargo. Fuel will be enough for 32 kilometers and 24 hours of walking movements.

For the development of LS3, Boston Dynamics assembled an extraordinary team of engineers and scientists from Boston Dynamics, Bell Helicopter, AAI Corporation, Carnegie Mellon, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Woodward HRT. Under the contract, by 2012 a robot must be improved for military use, including the ability to ford water obstacles and work in hot, cold, wet and dirty environment.