DARPA’s four-legged robots ace tests in demo
September 13, 2012
LS3 (credit: DARPA)
DARPA’s Legged Squad Support System (LS3) program demonstrated two robotic “pack mule” prototypes for the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James F. Amos, and DARPA Director, Arati Prabhakar.
The goal of the LS3 program is to demonstrate that a legged robot can unburden dismounted squad members by carrying their gear, autonomously following them through rugged terrain, and interpreting verbal and visual commands.
During today’s event, the LS3 prototype completed trotting and jogging mobility runs, perception visualization demonstration and a soldier-bounded autonomy demonstration.
“Augmenting small dismounted units with autonomous capabilities can be a potent force multiplier,” said Brig. Gen. Mark R. Wise, commanding general, MCWL. “The concerted efforts being made to better define autonomous robotic capabilities that help (lighten the load) provide greater mobility and agility to dismounted Marine and U.S. Army forces across the battle space, further demonstrate what can be achieved through partnering with DARPA and other DoD entities in support of the Warfighter.”
Comments (44)
by TFC
What about reducing the amount of junk and weight so soldiers do not need a pack robot or mule?
by Bri
They’ve done that a long time ago. It’s hard enough to have the money to equip soldiers with the things they need. They aren’t packing for a vacation.
by asiwel
Honestly, I am tiring of miscellaneously informed military history lessons from both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific as well as from home here on KurzweiAI,net. This mechanical pack robot was pretty noisy, I thought, and hardly “stealthy.” But what I am looking forward to in the near future is a similar robotic grocery cart and/or airport luggage carrier that will simply follow me around like a puppy dog and follow simple voice instructions without me worrying that it will bump into something or someone else or run off somewhere and hide like a child. It would be nice, of course, if the Robo-cart threw a fit or made lots of noise if a stranger tried to mess with it. I would be for adopting such a helpful AI.
by Cybernettr
At around 0:33 this video looked like a scene out of a horror movie, as the thing looked like it was taller than the trees!
by Kennita
I think it needs both visual and auditory camouflage, as protection against drones as well as ground-based enemy forces. I second the idea about the wheels.
by Dennis R.
These will only be good against enemies not rich/technologically advanced enough to field their own robots. Against, China or Russia (for example), these would probably be drone targets. Fairly simple to target and kill. Destroy one of these and you have a highly mobile soldier with no supplies.
DARPA should put money into hi-tech diplomacy.
by Bri
Russia is a den of thieves. Their tech isn’t anywhere near as advanced. China is in a similar boat their only strong point is in cyber warfare. The only thing on there side is their size.
by Mr.X
You are not seeing the big picture.Every country playing catching-up needs to copy cat.Why reinvent the wheel.They will reach a point at which they start to make original contributions.Take a look at history.Germany copied from Britain and France (mainly) and became really good at science, even dominating it shortly.Japan Copied from Germany and the USA (read that in a Japanese manga about electricity, my textbook was too boring back then).The USA started to dominate after taking the patents (of Germany) and people (almost every place) of others.
by Bri
The Germans dominated most of their shere of influence, then as they sought world domination along with Japan, what happened? The US clobbered both at the same time. After the war the US came into both countries and rebuilt them! They became the powerful nations they are today because we brought in the Marshal plan. Really unprecedented in the history of warrant. Now after all these years what country is in the lead by leaps and bounds? The US. Not to be blowing our horn or to be bragadose our GDP is still more than the top three put together, or at least it was until recently. Germany is a powerhouse of manufacturing. It’s tiny in comparison to china in relation to size. Japan is hobbled by it’s economic collapse and natural catastrophes. For what it’s worth we are far in the lead. We tend to be bullies and load Americans but we do dominate the world. You can bet that our military has far more in development than what they release in press reports. Our military think tanks work all day everyday thinking up possible scenarios. They aren’t stupid. Once robotics enters the scene china will lose it’s cheap labor advantage. Only 300 million of there 1-2 billion came out of agrarian existence. Soon most of them will not be getting Americas money. Yea I read history.
by Bri
A little adendum. We were unprepared before WWll. We didn’t learn our lesson after WWl. The military establishment has vowed to not let that happen again. That’s why we have so large a military today. It’s still viewed as a base to war planners. This level is for small theater conflicts. The principal in use is overwhelming force. We want to end conflicts fast. It saves lives on both sides. Our military views the wars in Kuwait and Iraq as test beds of our new perspective. Iraq was no light weight. It had a huge army with many modern weapons. We walked all over them. If Iran tosses a nuke into Isreal, it will be pissing in it’s own pool. That’s holy land to them to. Their real motivation is to kick us in the shins. It would be their mistake. That’s why we tell Isreal to not do preemptive attacks. It gives us the moral high ground. If Iran tries to play real dirty, we will crush them in a heart beat. I dont advocate war of any kind, but I’m no fool. It is always better to have strength to fight back against crazies. Whether it is [I like my day job] the president of Iran, or some other fool.
by steve
You brainwashed fool, slobbering over more weapons, citing moronic claims about overwhelming force ‘saving lives’ Beggars belief that you except this nonsense. Washington post reports 655’000 civilians dead in Iraq.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html
Your country are a massive world wide aggressor, your industrial military complex has massive influence on your foreign policy and you sit at home jerking off on it.
by Mr.X
Your military is overblown because it belongs to a fascist state trying to dominate the world.
Iraq was a paper tiger.If you do not believe that, you can reference your own generals on that.There is also the “Battle plan” tv-series, a bit simplistic but nice enough to get into another style of thinking.
Strategic thinking.Something you seem not to be well versed in, no offense intended.There is one called Blitzkrieg, that’s the one that references “Iraqi freedom” (what a joke) the most.Another interesting one that would talk about said operation is “Deception.”
Of course there are other much better sources for beginners e.g the “The great courses” course on strategic thinking.It is not that expensive.But battleplan can be watched for free on youtube, if you want to and have the time of course.
You are wrong on Iran, in so many ways that I just recommend you to read some forums / websites dedicated to geopolitics, e.g Stratfor or Debka.Your comment also contradicts what your own military thinks.
Ps: Iran is just trying to pick a fight? That makes no sense.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/i0/are_your_enemies_innately_evil/
To summarize, nobody thinks that way.Humans like to brand others as irrational animals in order to justify their own actions.Which proves that they are right in some sense, considering their equality in many aspects.
PPs: In the eyes of the world you have no moral high ground.That stuff has never been that important to your leaders anyway, and is mainly a show for your own people.That’s the problem if you want people to believe they are democratic, free good-doers etc.
by Mr.X
Haha.Only your colored propaganda version.Typical American.Sry, but that’s true.We only got a tiny percentage of your money, and paid it back manyfold.Google the Morgenthau plan.That’s how nice you have been to us.
Our people rebuilt their country mostly with their own hands.Your remark is ignorant and insulting.The first time in history you became relevant, because of stealing our patents and using the relative weakness of Europe.And many people did not want to live in ruins, so they emmigrated.
Germany was fighting more than 50 countries at the same time, including the famous Soviet union with its 320 million people.We lost the war in the East, not because of you.By the time you joined, it was already forseeable that we would lose.We Europeans know your stupid “America did it” stuff.You would not even have won a 1vs against us.Neither against Britain (at the start of the war) or the Soviet union.
Concerning Japan you can google their death cultist stuff.E.g veterans doing kamikaze instead of reloading.
You seem to be what we in Germany would call “Hurray-patriot”.And arrogant to boot.If you guys are so great, explain your failures in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Somalia and last but not least Iraq,
Even the old, children and cripples of Germany got a favorable kill/death ratio against your boys.
You are heavily indebted in China btw.
Concerning GDP: The EU has a higher GDP than the USA.
Maybe you should read an economics textbook in order to understand that term.Know you may want to say it’s no country, but that may well come.And for the kind of argument you have that’s not relevant.
My answers look disconnected because you use the “stream of consciousness” style :)
Ps: Do you think you know which stuff other countries have?Do you think your country is almighty? I know a lot of your conspiracy theorists guys.
by Bri
Sorry to insult you. I checked out your link. Nothing new. Of course each side thinks it’s right. Like I said before WWll we were not prepared. So many of our ships sank because they were built so bad. Germany had superior equipmentin every department, not to mention excellent training. I said that Germany is the only other real powerhouse. What nation other than yours is producing a large GDP. As far as I can see you guys are the only sensible ones. It’s a shame your stuck cleaning up their mess. We have had a huge trade imbalance with china for years and are very in dept to them and others. Everything is about to change . What happens when we can’t pay them back? Do you think they are going to get stronger. What happens if PIGS goes default? Who is going to have to help them ? France? Like I said I really don’t intend to offend you. Germany is very powerful again from your countries own efforts. My understanding of our help to your country after the war was that it was limited. Europe didn’t want you guys to come back a third time. We felt that your people still deserved a manufacturing base and we did help. I don’t see that happening after too many wars. It’s not like we subjugated you. We made sure that you still were sovereign and had the ability to become the great nation that you are today. That’s pretty unheard of in the history of major wars. We did the same for Japan. Right now we have had a series of very bad presidents, starting with Reagan who started the tendency of indebtedness. He wasn’t the cause of the soviet unions collapse. They were falling apart on there own. Clinton almost reversed our debts, then the Bushes racked it up. Obama tried to fix it but the banks are still playing games. I fear that we are going to continue to do bone headed things politically and economically. As I said Germany has a very sound financial base, mainly built on high quality products and fiscal prudence. The American people would learn a lot by studying how your country functions. Are congress has the lowest approval rating ever, so the American people know they are a bunch of Bozos. I made my comments because there is much fear about Iran and wars in general. Iran could never fight us in a war. How would they get here? Buy tickets on a commercial airline. Wars are won by the resolve of their people. Iranians are very mixed in there feelings toward their government. They also don’t have the general skill level, or the numbers. As I remember at the end of WWll as Germany produced the first jets they actually had to inlist at least one woman pilot because most of the men were dead. Again a testament to the skill level of the German people. Iraq was a paper tiger, but they had money from oil. They used it to buy soviet tech and some French. They had many soldiers in arms, but like you point out, they weren’t anywhere as go as soldiers as even your children. I really don’t want to be offensive to you. I have great respect for your country. There is a lot of fear in this country that Iran can amount to something. Even if they somehow became great soldiers, as you pointed out by saying Germany was fighting 50 nations, so to the Iranians would be fighting a huge coalition of countries that they would have to occupy in order to quell. The hard part is the ground fighting. They just don’t have anywhere near enough people. If they launch a nuke in their neighborhood, they will destroy their own holy lands. If Isreal launches a nuke into Iran they won’t care in the least. People in America should think through the value of a strike against Iran. Let the world police their actions. They aren’t going anywhere. The US should mend it’s own problems first.
by Joe
You are wrong, period.
I have trained with german forces, they are nothing. That is today, not in the passed. I do not think they could have taken Iraq without help. But that does not matter, they are very friendly with the US military.
First time we became relevant? Lets see, by WWII we had many territories, and were fighting for controlled the Pacific. Germany had crap territories and was losing ground. Since then you have lost everything and we have gained. Whole nations count on us to protect them.
My wives grandfather was there when your last empire crashed. He was for killing you all off for what you did to the jews(maybe the root of your support of Iran). But he caved in when he saw you all crying and giving up. Even now Nazis are known the world over as evil personified. While the USA still has record immigration because people love it here.
I know Russia had fun with your women after the last time you tried to kill everyone on earth, even the “old, children and cripples”.(nice quote)
The EU has a bigger GDP, also has more people, more government and horrendous debt the is killing to globe economy. I also has way more poverty (yes, i have been there many times, some places are still 1800′s). Now with massive turkish immigration to prop your economy up your nazi policies are starting to come back. Sad day for you, turkish female are very pretty.
BTW I do love Germany, have spent a lot of time there. Heck, I am part german and had a local women as a girlfriend while in country. You two fighting is moronic.
But anyway, the point is that this is cool tech. They will silence it, that is the last thing they are worried about. The AI is the key.
by Mr.X
You are wrong, period.
I guess you are not in the army, or else you’d know that we did oppose the Iraq war.And did not even enter.Anyway, tell me why you think we are that bad.What specifially did the persons in question to so badly?
First time you became relevant, exactly I spoke about the last century.
Your reading comprehension must be really awful, or else you’d notice I spoke about our cripples children etc fighting your invasion.
Your immigration bs needs no comment, just read some polls to see how loved you are.That’s why they kill your ambassadors, I guess.The people who go to the USA want either pay less taxes, are losers or fleeing from something.
And your grandfather wanted to kill us (me?) off?Well, he was a racisct then and no better than the nazis.
You must be really brainwashed to think we wanted to kill everyone on earth.That really makes no sense, maybe you want to read a history book.
The turkish people came because of US pressure, since the turkish economy was bad and endagered, they did not want to lose their ally to communism.Most turkish people (read some statistics) live on wellfare.Anyway, the massive immigration you talk about was in the 60-80, now these guys are actually going back.
Maybe you can cite nazi policies, your country is the fascist one, after all.Acta, nafta, patriot act, the stuff with wikileaks, guantanamo, homeland security.
Turkish females are pretty?Depends on the person, like everwhere, but that does not mean crap to me.Maybe you want to speak with their nice brothers first, kuffar. ^^
An US-citizen should not lecture others about debt, that ridicoulus.All financial crisises so far came from you guys.Which places are 1800.Come on, be specific.
And, more government?The USA has much more government than you’d think.
I guess you have never been to Europe, the stuff about third world places has been said again and again about your own country.
Ps: This woman must have been pretty self hating.Anyway, our new
generation won’t take this bs anymore.Part German= no German.German is not a race, it’s language and culture.
Many of these Turkish people who you are talking about (and as far as I know, are happy to live here, despite your claims of us being nazis) are considered Germans.
In summary, you just claim stuff without specifics.Typical.
by Bri
You all aren’t seeing the total picture. Even the comments on the Air Forces ” age of surprise video showed the same issue. Ray talked about smart dust in The Singularity Is Near. The enemy won’t get a chance to get close enough to hear. We also have excellent sound suppression tech. Just look at the Bose headphones. In the eighties when I was studying electronic music at college we understood how to reverse the phase of the sounds and cancel them out. Yes these pack robots can have guns mounted on them. Same as that cheetah the other day. That will be steathy and fast. All the armed forces are coordinated. Predator drones will be supersonic soon. We will be able to monitor and strike anywhere in the world in a matter of moments soon. You guys are living in the past.
by Gorden Russell
With acoustic mufflers these four-legged drones could sneak up on sentries and cut their throats. Instead of firing missiles through windows, a DARPA killer could be air-dropped behind a hill outside of the village and then it could walk in and get the al-Qaida commander.
by Mr.X
Sounds pretty lame. But you are right, a stealthy approach is much smarter than relying on shear fire superiority.
Maybe Europe should rearm.Otherwise one can’t feel save anymore.
by Bri
They are making humming bird sized and bee sized drones for that task.
by Harmil2
How many mechanics will a squad need to keep one of these things running? At least a mule’s body can repair itself to some extent. With all those moving parts in rough terrain how long will they last between tuneups and repairs? We better only declare war on deaf countries. Someday, maybe…any time soon, I doubt it. Keep doing your pushups soldier.
by Bennie Beaver
I would hope they have thought of noise canceling technologies to reduce the…noise! In Vietnam the enemy said they could always tell when the Americans where coming because of all that noise of their war machine…
by Allen Fleishman
WRT the video, it seems kewl. But how much are these vendor supplied advertisements saying, not saying? How well did the eMules follow the soldiers? break-down? need power? Will alpha version 2.0 fix these problems or provide new features? I would love to see the video followed by the Marines summary assessment of the actual performance of the eMules.
Was a horse cheaper than an automobile? Quieter? Smarter? Perhaps the alpha automobiles, but not version 4.2. What about support staff to train, feed, muck, heal, groom, the live mules? Still cheaper? What is the average work hours of the mules per day or over their lifetimes? How much weight can a live mule support? Fear reaction of a mule to gunshots or bombs? What would happen to the troops if a mule, carrying guns, food and ammo, runs away at the first smell of blood? You don’t see many horses along Main Street in Anytown, USA. Anyone remember why?
Wheels? Wheels? We don’t need no freaking wheels. Where they’re traveling is brush, mountains, dirt roads. On highways they can ride (be stacked) onto trucks, at least the beta 1.0 versions.
Are these remote operated ‘mules’? I didn’t think so. Can they be made remote and carry guns, yes. Which would you prefer? A grunt being shot at (e.g., someone who can’t get any other work, so they take a job being shot at for money) or a grunt sitting in some barrack office, but without the combat pay (and risks). We are talking about American lives here. Believe it or not, but generals write the letters to the next of kin. They want to protect their men. People will always need a job, the military is a paying employer.
You need to look at the long-term, big picture, all the pros and cons. Not just one miniscule facet or a alpha 1.0 demo version. But there ARE simple truths to simple questions. To save the soldier’s life (or mental and physical health), you don’t put them at risk. If you want to save lives, or save money, then you end wars. If you want to end the wars, end the jobs of the political fear mongers who make (and profit from) the wars. How wrong headed can you be?
by GatorALLin
Imagine this walking pack animal the size of a tank. and walking at 28mph vs. 4. Think of what this thing can do in 24 months of improvements.
think this only faster… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgBNjdwYdvE&playnext=1&list=PL981A56FACF95CAC9&feature=results_main
by anthrobotic
Here, JSYK: http://www.bostondynamics.com/bd_jobs.html
by anthrobotic
Boston Dynamics has a list of electrical engineering-type jobs on their website. Perhaps now that proof-of-concept is out of the way, it’s time to get rid of the lawnmower engines and make the Big & Bigger Dogs hum like an idling Prius?
Damn, should have gone into electricity.
-Reno at Anthrobotic.com
by Gorden Russell
It moves impressively, but in the bush, the enemy could hear a column of these a mile away.
by texasguy57
How’s the battery life?
Kind of noisy for the stealthy Marines.
Aren’t mules cheaper?
by GatorALLin
if a mule runs off with your gear…..how cheap is that?
if a mule leaves a trail of dung so your enemy can follow you…. and if that costs lives……how cheap is that? Noise issues can be fixed… battery life would always be something they can improve…. imagine what the electric car of the future is doing right now to improve battery life. Imagine what the iPhone and your laptop is doing to improve your battery design/life for just 2 years from now…(have to stop thinking of today or yesterday, but of tomorrow).
by melajara
Impressive progress from the first mules videos.
However, I’m wondering how vulnerable those robots will be once deployed on the field.
For example, how vulnerable will they be when facing a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NNEMP) attack?
by Gorden Russell
You’d grow attached to the mule, texasguy57, and it would break your heart to see it die in combat.
by Gorden Russell
Pack mules were invaluable to troops in Burma during WWII. A robot pack carrier that answers to commands without showing fear would be worth even more.
by GatorALLin
…can we see this thing mounted with guns and cameras so we don’t have to send in human troops next? I know they say this is to support our troops and carry heavy gear…….but, I think the heavy gear will be chain guns, motion sensitive cameras and some great live video feeds with 18 year olds running these from air conditioned trailers sitting in vegas. Just maybe you can support our troops best by not sending our troops over to combat. One could argue it is best not to be shot in person (shoot my robot instead, thanks). All this video game playing has to come in handy somehow…. right? The average boy by age 21 has 10,000 hours of video game training….. just saying. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html
by Gorden Russell
I was thinking of what you said during lunch, GatorALLin. The Army has been passing out video games to kids for some time now. They have already been preparing a generation to become the soldiers of the future. The games they pass out today to 12-year-olds will turn these kids into expert robot handlers by the time these ‘bots are operational.
I’m going to click on your ted.com link next.
by Gorden Russell
Jane Mcgonigal gave a great talk. Thanks for the link, GatorALLin.
by Bri
As I have said before, my grandfather was a Lt.Col. During Wll. He ran a base stateside. We have a tradition of talking about military issues. It’s a heavy burden to prosecute a war. One not taken lightly. The outcome most disired is a quick end with the least amount of killing on both sides. It’s a waste of time and resources to kill grunts. You cut of the head. Kill the command chain. It’s not about vengeance. The best war is the one not fought.Joshua the computer in the movie War Games would be pleased with Ms McGonical,s ideas. As for MAD, “strange game, the only winning move is not to play”.
by tom kersey
why not just a pack animal? Seems much simpler.
by upgrade01a
I agree. Quieter. smarter, cheaper.
by GatorALLin
…at first the pack animals would be cheaper, but can you really depend on them in a war like environment? Imagine them running of at the first explosion or leaving a trail of dung for the enemy to follow, or making noise, smells, etc and also requiring food, getting sick, needing water, needing rest breaks, etc. These pack robots are just the excuse of a non threatening robot design to assist humans. I think we all might seem these differently if they had guns mounted on them and had glowing red eyes for their infrared targeting cameras. In the future these robots are controlled by humans (*like we do already with flying drones). and then No one needed to go over in human form. Just chat with the human on the computer screen if you need to…. Imagine a pack of 10 of these pack robots (only these run at 70mph) and work as a group and all connected to humans playing video game like war games…… .only for real.
by GatorALLin
Henry Ford was asked what people said they wanted him to create……It was a faster horse…. He invented the Model-T instead. He invented the Model-T in 1908 and made them for 18 years (15million of them was a big deal and even huge numbers today). Went on to make the Model A and 4.8million. I agree with you that in 2012 it may prove quieter/smarter/cheaper, but in 2013 maybe..and not at all in 2015 and beyond. You have to start somewhere (and where mother nature left off is hard to catch up to….until you can double that progress every year).
by Some Guy
Pack animals are incredibly vulnerable, and a classic target. The morale damage shouldn’t be underestimated either.
And simpler isn’t always better – this platform is superior for a number of reasons, including its ability to carry a wounded soldier with much greater stability and safety.
by Gorden Russell
You’re right, some guy. The vets of WWI said the screaming of a dying horse was the worst thing they’d ever heard.
by Gorden Russell
Well Tom, if it’s going into combat, it may as well carry a gun. Those crescents on the back look strong enough to mount a .308 machine gun. With cameras on either side of the gun, it could be a stable platform that aims out a mile-and-a-half.
by GatorALLin
Always wanted to know why they can’t add on some small wheels to the bottom of these feet so that on perfectly flat surfaces this design could also roll like anything with wheels. They just fold up out of the way when walking. Thus giving it great off road capabilities and then also easily go 100mph on paved road surfaces also? Best of both worlds of design? Every time I watch these walking robots it gives me the creeps…. but still very cool advancements. Thanks for the video/updates