Boston Dynamics's DARPA-funded Big Dog robot may sound like a demonic weed whacker and look like a headless Hellraiser refugee, but it sure is impressive. It manages to recover from a slip on an icy patch with more grace than most humans could ever manage, shrugs off a hard kick to its side, picks its way over a precarious pile of cinder blocks, and finishes with what seems like a gleeful hop, skip and jump.
In the coming years, these creepy robotic beasts of burden will either help soldiers carry heavy gear across the battlefield, or hunt humans down mercilessly after SkyNet takes over. You know, whichever comes first.
Video after the break.
Via Automaton
