BigDog's little companion, the spunky RHex
By Evan Blass 
posted March 7th 2006 6:00AM
posted March 7th 2006 6:00AM
From the same folks who brought us BigDog, future pack hound for, and
best friend to, soldiers worldwide, comes another bot named RHex that can scurry ahead of its lumbering big brother and
relay front and rear video up back to their common masters up to 600 meters away. Not only can six-clawed RHex tear it
up on all kinds of rough terrain like rock fields, sand, and railroad tracks, manufacturer Boston Dynamics states that
its sealed body actually allows it to "swim on the surface or dive underwater"- a claim that might seem
dubious had Uncle Sam not given the big thumbs up in independent testing. Although clearly aimed at military customers,
BD casually suggests that you "drop us an email for information on getting your own RHex," making us wonder
what clever uses our industrious readers could envision for the little critter...[Thanks, distantbody]
at least its a little cute...unlike BigDog...which looks like something straight out of silent hill!
But can it self-right? ...as in, what if it flips over? Would it's antennas possibly "high-center" it?
Now THIS is the iFish.
"[C]lever uses our industrious readers could envision for the little critter..."
Can it get me a beer?
Looking at how the legs work, it should be trivial for it to self-right in most situations... I'm sure they've thought of the bots needing to upright themselves at somepoint.
Awesome!
Thats neat!. A bit messy on the whole land travel, but still neat. And the swimming underwater was great! :D
Boston Dynamics helped Sony with QRIO.
"Sony Corporation turned to Boston Dynamics for help developing its line of entertainment robots. We adapted our physics-based human simulation to work for Sony’s humanoid robot, QRIO. The result is a physics-based robot simulator used to develop mechanical designs, control systems, and motion planning. Using the simulator, Sony’s engineers test ideas for robot design, control and behavior before building them into the physical robot."
http://www.bdi.com/content/sec.php?section=about
Hmm...this'll take home security to a whole new level. Had I the millions I deserve, I'd have a team of them partolling the grounds.
While Boston Dynamics may be the ones commercializing them, RHex was developed over the past ten years at Carnegie Mellon University and a number of other universities. Boston Dynamics recently hired away the faculty at CMU who was the lead on the project.
More cool videos can be found at http://www.rhex.net/
Do a google search for Whegs and find a lot more like this
A Techie Talking Walking Fido that shares in the romoteness of the webbies world. Gots ta love the little fellare.
DCO
I never thought anything could one-up He-man's Attack Trak... until now.