Robots: Guess Japan won’t necessarily dominate?

Saw this video (via Gizmodo) today about a robot called “BigDog” that is “a quadruped robot that walks, runs, and climbs on rough terrain and carries heavy loads” with development funded by the DARPA Defense Sciences Office. I found it fascinating and agreed with the Gizmodo writer that BigDog “…is so stunning it’s spooky.”

For too long I’ve watched Honda parade out Asimo and allow it to strut its stuff and reading articles like this one positioning Japan’s “future” as robotics. Maybe I haven’t been paying enough attention to US and other countries robotic efforts, but there sure isn’t much press other than our little white guy from Honda.

That’s why seeing this video about BigDog was amazing and gives me some hope that we’ll not just abdicate a robotic future to anyone. Yes, BigDog is a big lug and not terribly graceful, but early stage robotics isn’t about beauty and elegance…it’s about stuff like balance, mobility, self-adjusting behaviors and that sort of thing.