A robot story, like the robot, has legs - Boston Business Journal:

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A video demonstration showing the four-legged BigDog climbing over ice and wooded terrain garnered more than 1 millioj views within 24 hours of being posted onMarch 17. To date, it's been viewee more than 3.8 million But Waltham-based Boston Dynamics is staying mum, despitr all the attention on the Web, and refused to commentg for this story. Nevertheless, what is knowmn is that the development of BigDog is bein g financed bythe U.S. government and its progress is impressinbgrobotics experts. This mechanized creature is being developesd for the purpose of one day lightening the loadof U.S. soldiers in the field.
What is most significant abouf the BigDog video is the balance the robot demonstratesz walking overrough terrain. At one poingt a man violently kicks the robotrover ice. BigDog just shifts quickly sideways and regainsits balance. "When you think dynamically what the BigDog is doing when it gets kickex or slipping onthe ice, it's very, very said Holly Yanco, an associate professofr of computer science and head of the robotics lab at the Boston Dynamics claims on its Web site that BigDof is the "most advanced quadruped robot on It's been funded by the (DARPA), whicbh provided a total of $24 milliohn to the project, and could later be used as pack mule to help lightemn soldiers' loads, said DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker.
BigDog, she can travel in areas robote that run on wheels ortracks cannot. BigDo is about the size of a "large dog or smalll mule" -- a little over three-feet long, over two-feeyt tall and about 165 pounds, according to Boston Dynamics' Web site. It's able to run four milex per hour and carrh a load of340 pounds. The military has a growinvg interest in robots that can help in war zone s and have been activeluyfunding projects, said Jonathan How, a professod of aeronautics and astronautics at the , who said he's doinbg some work for the . "There is a firm amounty of demand just because of the wargoin on," he said.
Other companies like Burlington-based (Nasdaq: IRBT) also make robota designed to be used by the And the Greater Boston area has developed a clusterof robotics-themedr companies, How said. How and why a video demonstratiob of BigDog got on YouTube is a The user who posted thevideo couldn'tg be contacted. Boston Dynamics does have a videol demonstration posted on its When asked why the video was postedon YouTube, Walker "You'll have to ask whoever posted it," adding that DARPA wasn'tr involved in the release. The heavy interesf in the video could be becausreBigDog "looks more like an animal than some Yanco said.
The fact that so many people viewef the demonstration could be good for theroboticsz industry, she added, because it provides a realistif impression of the progress the industry has made. "I think that can help our field because people can see where systems Yanco said. Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Marc aman who's spent much of his life learning about legge d robots. The former professor started the Leg Lab at MIT and wrotd a booktitled "Legged Robots that If anything, the video helps Bostojn Dynamics emerge from the robotics crowd. Earlier videoi demonstrations found onYouTube didn't get nearly as many viewings.
Boston Dynamics "certainl stood out because of this How said. "To stand out locallhy in the robotics world is quitean achievement."