Darpa’s AlphaDog Acting As a Companion Animal

In the video released on Monday by the Military Darpa’s AlphaDog – known as the LS3 or Legged Squad Support System – climbs rocks and trots after a soldier through wooded terrain a huge leap from the last video released of the programs progress.

The tests in the video above show off AlphaDogs mobility, perception and autonomy, and human-machine interaction. And a lot of what the robot is doing looks familiar because it is. Darpa modeled their Legged Squad Support System after military working dogs. The machine, designed by Boston Dynamics, unlike a real dog can stand upright, walk for 20 miles without a break to rest, potty, or have food or water and does not need recharging during that time. It can also and carry up to 400 pounds something a dog cannot do.

Now the robot can obey instructions to follow people. The Marines connected the robot to the Marine Corps Tactical Robot Controller (TRC), a 10-pound touchscreen device a soldier or Marine can use to send the robot orders. That could be telling the AlphaDog to follow an infantry squad, or give a human operator the ability to take direct control if the robot gets stuck or needs help navigating really rough terrain.

The next steps for the robot is to get it to obey voice commands like sit, stay, and here and then to become faster. Right now the dog like robot can travel a maximum of 5 miles an hour. Once those functions are incorporated the hope is to be able to get AlphaDog to communicate back to its “handler” similar to a real dog that can bark when they need help or are in danger.

In motion it sort of looks more like a horse trotting or prancing then a dog on a walk but that might be a structural feature that allows the robot to carry a heavier load. Regardless Darpa’s latest military tool has improved drastically over its predecessor.