Bigdog
Bigdog is a robotics project funded by DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) and developed by Boston Dynamics. The goal of the project is to create a robotic quadruped (a four legged robot) that can traverse rough terrain and carry heavy loads in places where traditional wheeled vehicles can not go.
So far we have built four power-autonomous prototypes, and the latest version of the robot has successfully climbed up and down a steep (~ 70% grade), outdoor root-covered trail while carrying a 60 pound load multiple times without falling over.
I am under an NDA with Boston Dynamics, and am limited in the material I am permitted to post. I cannot show the circuit boards I have developed or detailed photos of the robot itself. Please check out this video (warning, link is to a 28Mb Windows Media Player video file) from the Boston Dynamics Bigdog page for a demonstration of some of the robots abilities, or watch one of these videos on YouTube: current, original.
I started out as a Robotics Technician on the project. Back then there were only four engineers on the project and I filled in doing tasks they did not have time for. My degree from MIT is in the Visual Arts so this was an excellent way to get my foot in the door on a world class robotics project. After I proved myself capable of engineer-level work, I was promoted to Robotics Engineer and am currently one of only two electrical engineers on the project.
Me posing with the “V2” robot at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, TX, March 2005
The last day of our first trip to SwRI, during endurance testing. The robot endured these tests better than we did.
“Debugging” an intermittent connection problem on the “V2” robot.
On a recent trip one of the “V3.5” robots trotted for five miles in under 2 hours.
A few action shot of me working in the field with my trusty Thinkpad.
This one is so that when the time comes, our robot overlords will know whose side I’m on.