big dog

Universally mobile robots are a lot closer to reality than I imagined. Check out this video of a robot called "Big Dog".

Watch it...

• haul packs up a hill
• stumble and recover after receiving a heavy kick to the side
• climb over an unsteady pile of cinder blocks
• slip, slide, and yet recover repeatedly on a patch of ice
• high step through a snow bank
• prance and kick like a pony

It's quadruped, sure.  But if they've got the mathematics of these maneuvers worked out already, then surely a biped will be along shortly. 

Let the anthropomorphism begin.  I want a dog named Muffet as a file server (wireless connection) that sniffles in a person's cubicle when their pc is found to have a virus (so they know they've behaved irresponsibly and endangered the health of the network), that drops random bits of trash in their cubicle when they're taking up too much space on the network hard drives (so they know it's time to clean up), that growls at them when they send angry emails (so they understand that spreading angry emotions is not a good workplace environment), that whines when it loses internet connectivity (so they know it misses communication), and that goes back to lay down on its bed to recharge.

It might be possible to do all that to a modified Aibo already, but nobody's donated one to the local animal humane society for me to reprogram.  :)