<![CDATA[io9: robot abuse]]> http://tags.lifehacker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: robot abuse]]> http://io9.com/tag/robotabuse http://io9.com/tag/robotabuse <![CDATA[No One's Kicking BigDog, Now That This Robot Has Horns]]> BigDog has been weaponized, with gigantic freaking bull horns. You remember that scary-as-hell walking military bot, whose owners videotaped themselves slo-mo kicking the crap out of him? Now BigDog will have revenge.

I'm actually very curious about who decided to put horns on Boston Dynamics' quadrupedal robot, and whether they considered the possibility of a horned robot uprising. Also, if you haven't seen this earlier video of BigDog Beta, I encourage you to do so — especially when the cameras catch him getting busy in the park with a couple of bystanders.


[via Gizmodo]

]]> http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5174574&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Dogoid Robot with No Head Moves in an Eerily Lifelike Manner]]> It looks like something out of a James Thurber illustration, with its headless body and backward-dog legs, but the Big Dog is real and autonomous. This video, by the Big Dog development team at Boston Dynamics, shows just how lifelike the bot is. It can carry over 300 pounds, and its engines make an alien whining noise. It can also, apparently, recover its balance after being kicked by its owner, in a scene that that is disturbing on a number of levels.

Something about this video made me think of nice black metal, perhaps from Sweden. I'm not sure why. So I made a little snippet with a new soundtrack.

New Video of BDI's Robot [IEEE Automaton]

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