A Massachusetts engineering firm known for creating futuristic military robots has received multimillion dollar contracts to develop two more battlefield bots for the Department of Defense.
Boston Dynamics, which in 2008 unveiled a four-legged robot called BigDog, has been tapped by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development arm of the DOD, to create a human-like robot and an agile, robotic Cheetah that developers said will eventually be able to run 70 mph.
WATCH VIDEO OF THE BIGDOG BELOW
The human-like bot, Atlas, will have two arms and legs, but no head, and be able to walk and jog upright, climb, squeeze through narrow alleyways and use its hands, Boston Dynamics said.
The Terminator-like droid would represent a step forward from Boston Dynamic's current anthropomorphic robot, known at PETMAN, which is used to test chemical weapons protection suits for the Army.
WATCH VIDEO OF THE PETMAN BELOW
The Cheetah will walk and sprint on four legs and will be designed to turn corners, zig-zag and start and stop on a dime.
Though the robocat will be able to run faster than humans and seems to be suited for chasing down enemy prey, the company said it was more interested in advancing the technology, rather than developing the robots' battlefield responsibilities.
"They're not so focused on what the ultimate use will be," Marc Raibert, lead investigator of the Cheetah program and Boston Dynamics' president, told the Boston Herald. "They're most focused on developing the technology and seeing what uses they can be applied to."
Eventually, the robots would be used for "emergency response, firefighting, advanced agriculture and vehicular travel" in areas inaccessible to tanks, Humvees and other wheeled vehicles, the company said.
The first Cheetah model is due in 20 months, and engineers are hoping it will be able to run 30 mph.
The company's BigDog turned heads three years ago when the company released videos showing it trotting over rocky and snowy terrain with a surprisingly lifelike gait.
The cyberbeast was designed to serve alongside soldiers as a robotic pack mule, with the ability to carry more than 300 pounds of military gear.
Boston Dynamics isn't the only company developing robotic animals for use during warfare.
On Friday, a California company unveiled a tiny spy plane resembling a hummingbird.
The "nano-hummingbird," developed by AeroVironment in Simi Valley, Calif., has a 6.5-inch wingspan and can record sights and sounds on a video camera in its stomach.
Developers said the miniature craft is designed to hover in the air and gather intelligence without the enemy noticing.
poco a poco el futuro se esta convirtiendo en presente.
PD: Vamos a morir todos.
