Quadruped robot LittleDog improves the skills

While Big Dog runs field trials (see note “Carrying loads on the four-legged walking robots”), His little brother – Little Dog – improving their skills in the laboratory. Both the robot was developed by Boston Dynamics, working on order of U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Ministry of Defense (DARPA) and was originally intended for use by the military. However, now DARPA has selected six research teams from various universities, including Massachusetts and Stanford, to develop more advanced control algorithms Little Dog, which can subsequently be introduced in a senior colleague.

Each leg has three joints Little Dog with servo, with the robot controlled by the onboard computer. Built-in gyro helps the robot to navigate in space, and the external system monitors the precise position of each limb and joint, when Little Dog moves.

Little by little scientists have been corrected many deficiencies robot, now he moves much more confidently: moved through the failures in the soil, easily overcomes the rocky surface and folds in front of the stairs. The latest version Little Dog even become a self-learning, it is programmed to their own experience to become more effective in navigating the difficult terrain, it has the ability to evaluate the difference between a stable foothold and shaky, and depending on it to distribute the load on the limb.