# MIT's four-legged robot leaps over obstacles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152 "2015-05-29T23:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/1 "2015-05-29T23:10:16Z")
Just what the subject line says. Fast-forward to 1:00 to see the best part: [https://youtu.be/\_luhn7TLfWU](https://youtu.be/_luhn7TLfWU) This was funded by the Pentagon. Invading countries with human “boots on the ground” is SO old-school. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/2 "2015-05-29T23:18:08Z")
Fuck, that is awesome! I remember the first iteration of this kind of machine, and hooooooboy have they come a long way. Lemme know, tho, if you find video of MABEL doing this kind of thing; that would totally fucking rock. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/3 "2015-05-30T06:33:04Z")
Let me know when the DOD funds 'bots that refuse unethical orders. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/4 "2015-05-30T15:02:05Z")
This is frightening. These new robots could kill us - and then take our jobs. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/5 "2015-05-30T18:25:56Z")
The sound it makes is like a track from a horror or SF movie. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/6 "2015-05-30T18:44:59Z")
I always thought it was the bad guys who had the killer robots. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/7 "2015-05-30T18:51:58Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I always thought it was the bad guys who had the killer robots. [[Skinner]Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong.[/Skinner]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vis8Aaekpw) ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/8 "2015-06-01T17:33:04Z")
So have we simply decided, “Screw it, the terror-bot victory is inevitable. Let’s just capitulate now and get on to the afterlife” ? Cause, really, terminators are scary enough, now they come with pets? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/9 "2015-06-01T17:45:10Z")
It’s a bit less intimidating when we see, around the 1:00 mark, that a student pushing another on a cart can keep up with the bounding cheetah-bot. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/10 "2015-06-02T18:16:18Z")
There’s another video where it (or at least the leg portion under external poser) is running on a treadmill at 28 mph. And then it trips. But in order to truly create stealthy murderbots, they have to change the engine that sounds like a hive of wasps to something else. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/11 "2015-06-02T18:36:09Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > There’s another video where it (or at least the leg portion under external poser) is running on a treadmill at 28 mph. > > And then it trips. > > But in order to truly create stealthy murderbots, they have to change the engine that sounds like a hive of wasps to something else. No worries, electric motors and power sources are being improved at amazing rates. I mean, you haven’t even noticed all the drones flying around, have you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/12 "2015-06-02T19:02:25Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > This is frightening. These new robots could kill us… They’re working on that. [Here, Big Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvLalY6ubc) is being trained to rip off heads and throw them in a pile. > [@Sunspace](#): > > But in order to truly create stealthy murderbots, they have to change the engine that sounds like a hive of wasps to something else. Boston Dynamics, now owned by Google, has that covered. The latest version of Big Dog, now called Spot, [is far more quiet than its predecessors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8YjvHYbZ9w) and has much-improved quadruped locomotion. This is a bot that could sneak into a lot of people’s bedrooms and jab them with poison while they slept. Or rip their heads off. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/13 "2015-06-02T19:04:42Z")
[They’ve even got the beat.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcOi6npIsVc) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/14 "2015-06-02T19:10:14Z")
There’s also [Little Dog,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw) which appears to be capable of sneaking in through your bedroom window and slitting your throat while you sleep. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/15 "2015-06-02T19:12:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > They’re working on that. [Here, Big Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvLalY6ubc) is being trained to rip off heads and throw them in a pile. Jesus. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/16 "2015-06-02T19:13:48Z")
This must be like how ants feel when they look up to see the boot coming down about to end their existence. Someday, robot kids will be learning about the history of human extinction in class and there will be an essay worth 100 points that asks them to explain how these machines began the Last War. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/17 "2015-06-02T19:58:05Z")
“[The AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made out of atoms which it can use for something else.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_risk_of_artificial_general_intelligence#Dangers)” – Eliezer Yudkowsky ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/18 "2015-06-03T01:56:06Z")
OK, I saw the laser beam on the robot but where are the bees? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/19 "2015-06-03T02:19:54Z")
I don’t hear any barking, so I assume the bees are still in the dog’s mouths. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152/20 "2015-06-09T11:45:17Z")
Be afraid: Yaskawa is teaching its robots to [hack of limbs with a sword.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O3XyDLbaUmU) OTOH, maybe robots [aren’t that good at walking afterall,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0TaYhjpOfo) so maybe don’t be quite so afraid? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mits-four-legged-robot-leaps-over-obstacles/721152.md?page=2)