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Little Dog & Big Dog

DARPA-funded LittleDog robot shows off new tricks
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/darpa-funded-littledog-robot-shows-off-new-tricks/2262


The 5-inch-tall quadruped, manufactured by Boston Dynamics
http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_littledog.html
has been recently upgraded with an impressive set of improved locomotion skills
thanks to researchers at the University of Southern California.

To download a video of LittleDog in action, click here
http://www.bostondynamics.com/dist/LittleDog.wmv

The research, developed at USC’s Computational Learning & Motor Control Lab

http://www-clmc.usc.edu/Research/LearningLocomotion
is part of DARPA’s Learning Locomotion Project

http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/ll/ll.asp
which aims to use machine learning techniques to create autonomous control software
for a robot quadruped such that it can traverse unknown rugged and complex terrains.

Related Reading:

Fast, Robust Quadruped Locomotion over Challenging Terrain (PDF)
http://www-clmc.usc.edu/publications/K/kalakrishnan-ICRA2010.pdf

Teaching a RoboDog New Tricks:
Mechanical quadruped software tested on difficult terrain in DARPA competitive trials
http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2009/taking-the-dog.htm

Resilient cockroach-inspired robot survives large falls, dashes off
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/resilient-cockroach-inspired-robot-survives-large-falls-dashes-off/1839

(extra) BigDog - The Most Advanced Rough-Terrain Robot on Earth

To download a video of BigDog in action:
http://www.bostondynamics.com/dist/BigDog.wmv
More BigDog videos are available at
http://www.YouTube.com/BostonDynamics
.