REAL ROBOTS

BIGDOGThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology to be used by the military also funds robotic companies like Boston Dynamics, which is developing BigDog a very different military robot, a 3 feet long, 2.5 feet tall, 240 pounds quadruped robot about the size of a small mule. This robot can traverse through snow, rain, ice, mud and other difficult terrain at 4 miles per hour, carry loads of up to 340 pounds, and climb a 35 degree incline, making it an ideal military convoy. More details on the BigDog will be found below.

PredatorThe Predator shown at left has probably become our military's most famous unmanned vehicle. It is essentially a super high-tech r/c plane though it does have some autonomous flying capabilities. Originally designed for reconnaissance, it now can be outfitted with a variety of different weaponry, most recently the laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire anti-armor missiles. It is roughly 29 feet long with a 49 foot wingspan. Since 1995, the Predator has seen action over Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

BugBrain

If you want to give bug robots a try, you might consider the little BugBrain by Yost Engineering on the left. Those big whiskers on the front give the bug the ability to sense contacts with objects in its environment and you can program the onboard computer to make decisions about how to react. That's a true robot. You can add other sensors to it too. Maybe a phototransistor so the bug can "run for the shadows" like real bugs do? According to the manufacturer you can also add wireless RF and an ultrasonic range finder to the bug. That could give it sensing and decision making capabilities on-par with University research robots.

SojournerThe Sojourner is a 6-wheeled vehicle of a rocker bogie design which allows the traverse of obstacles a wheel diameter (13cm) in size. Each wheel is independently actuated and geared (2000:1). The front and rear wheels are independently steerable, providing the capability for the vehicle to turn in place. The vehicle has a top speed of 0.4m/min. It is powered by a 0.22sqm solar panel comprised of 13 strings of 18, 5.5mil GaAs cells each. The normal driving power requirement for the microrover is 10W.