You might feel like you’re watching a sci-fi movie, but this bizarre mule-like robot is actually going to be a military tool!
It’s called the LS3 and it’s made by military tech group DARPA and robot-maker Boston Dynamics. Watching this thing move, you would think it was alive. But it can carry 400 pounds, walk 20 miles at a time and move as fast as 10 miles per hour, all without complaining. It has sensors that act like eyes, so it doesn’t run into trees. And the robot gurus are even working on adding voice-recognition so it can answer commands like “stop” or “come here.”
DARPA says the idea is to integrate the LS3 into military units to help troops carry all kinds of heavy stuff. They’re planning to do test-runs starting this summer with the Army and the Marines.
To see even more interesting robots that you thought were only in graphic novels, check out the Boston Dynamics website. They have a smaller robot that's similar to the LS3 called BigDog, and they’re working on a robot called SquishBot that can squeeze into small spaces and change from soft to hard.
Join the conversation...