Marines Testing Quadruped Prototype Robot ‘Spot’

The following is a release from Sgt. Eric Keenan, Defense Media Activity:

Employees of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency trained Marines from the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab how to operate “Spot,” a quadruped prototype robot, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Sept. 16, 2015.

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Spot is a 160-pound, electrically powered, hydraulically actuated robot designed by Boston Dynamics.

“We want to continue to experiment with quadruped technology and find ways that this can be employed to enhance the Marine Corps warfighting capabilties,” said Capt. James Pineiro, the branch head for Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.

All week the Marines with the lab and employees of DARPA tested Spot’s abilities on different terrains including hills, woodlands and even in urban terrain.

“I think a robot like Spot has tons of opportunities [Marines] could use it for, like scouting or load carriage,” said Ben Swilling, a roboticist with Defense Advanced Research Agency.

During a military operation in urban terrain drill, Spot went into the building before the Marines simulating peaking around corners and looking for enemies and possible threats.

“The Marines have been very receptive to the new technology, embrace it and come up with new ideas we …read more

Source:: Tactical Life