Google Bought Robot-Maker Boston Dynamics

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John Markoff, Google Adds to Its Managerie of Robots; A new class of robots that could be used for warehouse work or package delivery. New York Times, Dec 14, 2013.
www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/techn ... erie-of-robots.html

Quote:

"based in Waltham, Mass [a Boston suburb] * * * Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert, a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It has not sold robots commercially, but has pushed the limits of mobile and off-road robotics technology, mostly for Pentagon clients like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa. Early on, the company also did consulting work for Sony on consumer robots like the Aibo robotic dog.

"Dr Raibert is known as the father of walking robots in the United States. He originally created the Leg Lab, a research laboratory to explore walking machines at Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. He then moved the laboratory to M.I.T. before leaving academia to build engineering systems for the military and Sony.

My comment:

(a) "More recently, Boston Dynamics distributed a video of a four-legged robot named WildCat, galloping in high-speed circles in a parking lot."

I was unaware of this one until I read the report. To watch the video clip, you may click the link provided by the report ONLINE, or go to Youtube.com.  (The website of Boston Dynamics does not list WildCat among its robots.)

Introducing WildCat. Youtube.com, published by BostonDynamics on Oct 3, 2013.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE3fmFTtP9g

(b) There is no need to read the rest of the NY Times report.