ROBOTS: “Alpha Dog” – “BigDog” Taken to the Next Level

 15 May 2014

Alpha Dog

            As short a time as 15 years ago, it seemed almost impossible to imagine a walking robot.  At least, a walking robot that wasn’t an entertainment device.  Sure, you could design a device that went through all the motions of walking.  But it would walk on an ideally flat surface with no external physical interference or interaction of any kind.  In other words, most walking robots were not so different from those animatronic devices displayed in Disneyland shows.

            As long as the environment was carefully adjusted to the limitations of a walking robot, everything would be fine.  But that’s not what DARPA wanted.  The DARPA program required a robot that could . . . really walk.  This robot’s purpose was to accompany soldiers, potentially in combat situations, as they walked through rough terrain.  Just as humans and animals adjust their walking to the terrain, so would the robot envisioned by the DARPA project. 

            In other words, DARPA wanted a robot that could, and would, walk in every sense of the word. 

 



 

Big Dog

 

            The initial project, undertaken by Boston Dynamics, resulted in the unveiling of quadruped (four-legged) “Big Dog” in 2005.  It’s funny, but there’s something almost creepy looking about Big Dog in every still shot.  But when you see it move, the creepiness disappears as the viewer clearly recognizes something “familiar” and “natural” in walking motion of the robot.   Just watching Big Dog in motion wordlessly defines the term “biomimickry” – a technology copied from (imitating) nature. 
 

Big Dog (at the Beach?)

 

            LS3 is the“Legged Squad Support System.” And Big Dog was just the beginning. 

            What complex problem was this new “legged” technology designed to solve?  The Army identified “physical overburden” as major problem in warfare.  The modern soldier carries a substantial load of gear -- weighing as much as 100 pounds.  Both soldiers’ performance and readiness are impaired by the physical weight of their gear. 

            Well, “in the old days,” this problem was solved with a mule.   Accompanying soldiers, in the field, was a load bearing animal, a mule, which carried a lot of heavy gear leaving the soldiers less fatigued and more responsive to expected and unexpected challenges.

            In 2012, Boston Dynamics unveiled the LS3 -- “Alpha Dog” – Big Dog taken to the next level.   
 

Alpha Dog

            Alpha Dog can carry a bigger load – increased from 340 to 400 pounds.   This new version is quieter making a sound considerably quieter than the “swarm of bees sound” made by its predecessor.   While Big Dog was vulnerable to “cow tippers,” Alpha Dog and can “right” itself if tipped over. 

            Alpha Dog is also faster than its predecessor.  The robot manages a 1 to 3 mph walk over rough terrain and a 5 mph jog over relatively level surfaces.  On a flat surface, such as a roadway, Alpha Dog can reach a speed of 7 mph. 

Alpha Dogs

 

            Put in practical terms, the goal is to develop a robot that can travel with a squad of soldiers as they complete their mission – without hindering that mission in any way.  In order to do this, Alpha Dog will have to be able to follow the squad, but with a degree of independence or autonomy. 

            While Alpha Dog will respond to voice commands, the commander cannot command Alpha Dog in its every action without the robot becoming more of a burden and less of a help to its handler.  So, Alpha Dog’s design is must incorporate certain “autonomy settings.”   These settings will include: (1) “leader-follower tight,” (2) “leader-follower corridor,” and (3) “go-to-waypoint.”

            (1) Leader-follower tight: Requires the Alpha Dog to follow the leader’s path as closely as possible. 

            (2) Leader-follower corridor: Requires Alpha Dog to “follow” the leader, but with the “freedom to make local path decisions.”  So, the leader will not have to worry or account for Alpha Dog’s mobility capabilities.  The robot can vary its path slightly to avoid obstacles or obstructions without any special intervention from the leader.

            (3)  Go-to-waypoint: Requires Alpha Dog to proceed to particular set of GPS coordinates without a leader – avoiding obstacles on its own.

            A reasonable question: How can it do these things unless it can see?

            Well, for its own purposes, it can see.

            Alpha Dog has a “stereo” vision system.  First, it has a pair of cameras mounted into its “head.”  Second, each camera focuses on the same object or location from a slightly different angle – like human vision.  The angle to which each camera must adjust to focus on a distant object or location, discloses the depth, or distance, of that object or point.  

            But Alpha Dog also has a LIDAR detecting and ranging system.  LIDAR is a just a combination of the words “light” and “radar,” but is often assumed to be an acronym for “LIght Detection And Ranging.” (A useful factoid when you are trying to locate resources about this technology.)  Not only does the LIDAR system help Alpha Dog follow a human lead, but also records intelligence data directly from its environment.

            This type of sophisticated, simulated vision is necessary to allow Alpha Dog to meet another basic DARPA project requirement.  Without the “perception” capability to detect and judge both distance and grade, this robot wouldn’t be able to “walk” up and down hills.

            In terms of communication, Alpha Dog can’t give orders, but will be able to take orders.  Voice recognition technologies allow squad members direct spoken commands to which this robot responds.
 

Alpha Dog Takes Voice Commands
 

            It seems almost anticlimactic to add that Alpha Dog will be equipped with technologies to recharge batteries.  (It’s almost like saying the ‘bot can, also, open soup cans.)  But a mobile auxiliary power source is important to a squad in the field.  We are talking about batteries that power radios and other handheld technologies used by squad members on patrol.

            There will be “more.”  DARPA’s final goals for the perfected ‘bot will include a much larger load-carrying capacity.  The current 400 pound maximum will need to increase to 1,000 pounds – the weight of the gear required by a nine-man infantry squad on a 3 day mission.  Although Alpha Dog’s walking speed is about to par, its range will have to increase to allow the ‘bot to walk at about two-and-a-half mph for 8 hours.  Also, the ‘bot must be able to “burst” into 220 yard sprints at a speed of about 24 mph. 

Thursday 15 May 2014

GCLM5444HOxenia

See also: Big Dog -- Terrestrial Support Robotics

ROBOTS: BigDog – Terrestrial Support Robotics

15 May 2014

            Recently unmanned underwater drone technology seems have taken center stage among DARPA Programs.  For a while, proposals seemed to focus on UAV’s, unmanned aerial vehicles, but now include new, ambitious, underwater projects like the Hydra and UFP, which have recently appeared on the horizon.   

 Hydra UUV for the ocean's shallow waters

            On the other hand, Lockheed’s SSMS may be one of the first in new wave of terrestrial unmanned logistical and support vehicles.  The SSMS, Squad Mission Support System, vehicle sports the familiar wheels of most terrestrial vehicles.   But wheeled vehicles are of limited utility in many contexts.  I can’t help wondering when a new class of large terrestrial unmanned vehicles, with legs, will become the order of the day or, in terms of development proposals, the order to tomorrow.

Army, Lockheed to test drones-only mission, by air and land

            If the goal is high speed, accessibility, and maneuverability, terrestrial robots such as FastRunner (robo-ostrich) are prototypes intended to exploit to the maximum many of the advantages of bipedal locomotion. 

 FastRunner or "Robo-Ostrich"

            On the other hand, (or maybe on many other feet), there is a new generation of many-legged robots, most notably a group of hexapodal robots.  Most of these six-legged robots are designed more for the purposes of entertainment or amusement than military application.  But the multi-legged robot has distinct advantages over a two-legged or even four legged counterpart in terms of stability in motion over extremely difficult terrain.

            Looking back, from a mechanical standpoint, the business of walking was so complex that it seemed almost impossible to imagine a practical robot design incorporating motion – on foot – as short a time as 15 years ago.  But that changed with Big Dog.

 BigDog

            In 2002, Boston Dynamics [2] began work on a four-legged robot for military use.  Funded by the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the first prototype of this robotic quadruped was unveiled in 2005.  What had first been called, "Robo-Mule," but now renamed "Big Dog," had been developed by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller (a division of Qinetiq North America), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. 

            Big Dog is about three feet long, two and a half feet high with a weight of 240 pounds.  In terms of size, it is roughly comparable to its inspiring model, the mule.  The DARPA program required a robotic pack animal, like the army mule, to travel "on foot" with soldiers through terrain too rough for wheeled vehicles.

            The latest prototype is capable of walking through terrain rough enough to stop a jeep.  Big Dog can run at about 4 mph with a 340 pound load and can climb a 35 degree grade. This robot carries a computer that receives feedback from the robot's sensors and controls its direction, movement, and balance.

            Powered by an “impressive” two-stroke, one-cylinder, 15-HP go-kart engine, Big Dog had a few bugs.  It could be tipped like a cow.  But unlike a cow, it couldn’t get back up.  Also, it was anything but silent -- making a sound often compared to a swarm of bees.  But since the 2005 unveiling, there has been a lot of work and refinements as well as the addition of a robotic arm that not only can pick things up, but throw them as well.  With the first unveiling, Big Dog's capabilties may have seemed modest, but this was the beginning of a new generation of walking robots inspired by biological organisms:  What's called biomimickry.

            In the 1950’s, the sci-fi vision of robotic technology was both exotic and strange.  The technology of the future was envisioned and presented as something completely different and contrary to our natural biological surroundings.  However, when technology confronted reality, we biological organisms seem to have had the last laugh because we could (and still can) do a whole lot of extremely useful things that our most sophisticated robotic technology cannot.

            The jeep took a basic automobile and raised the center of gravity, increased the size and scale of the automotive suspension system and produced spectacular off-road performance -- for a machine with wheels.  But the wheel, itself, was limiting.  Every Rover we’ve landed on Mars ended its life when it got stuck.  Human beings aren’t the strongest animal in the forest, but if just two of us were on Mars with those Rovers, we’d have extended their useful lives by getting them “un-stuck” in short order.  Why?  Because we have a repertoire of movements and leverage that we can use to apply force in almost any direction.  The best of those early sci-fi ’bots looked high-tech but, in fact, were functionally stunted.

            When sci-fi was still dominated by those inhuman and unnatural versions of mechanistic technology, a new methodology of approach to technological design was, quietly, born.  “Biomimetics” was a term used to describe the development of technology designed to imitate and replicate the activities of biological systems and organisms.  Then, the term “bionic” was coined to describe a technology incorporating a “function copied from nature.”  When Hollywood got a hold of the term “bionic,” the “Six Million Dollar Man” hit the small screen.  Maybe Hollywood’s version of the term “bionic” was just too interesting to be seriously “scientific,” and the term “bionic” fell into scientific oblivion.

            The gap was finally filled with the introduction of the term “biomimicry,” which has been widely adopted to describe any technology imitating (copied from) nature.  But, in some contexts, biomimicry is more of a necessity than a choice.  If you want robots or drone vehicles that work in a particular way, and the only known example of such performance is a biological organism, you’ll either have to imitate the organism or forget the project altogether.

            I am still amazed and entertained by the videos of Big Dog’s performance.  The movements are, in some ways, so “life-like” – so reminiscent of the movements of an animal.

 

BigDog (in Winter?)

 

Thursday 15 May 2014

GCLM5444HOxenia

See also: "Alpha Dog" -- "Big Dog" Taken to the Next Level