The Military’s New (DARPA) Toy: A Robotic Mule

Well, you've heard of the  mechanical bull and trying to last 2.7 seconds on it, but this is something completely different and will likely throw the enemy for a much bigger loop than the bull named "Fu Man Chu" could. Well, not really in an offensive sense but definitely in a supportive role for our troops... Here's the skinny:

Officially named the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), the walking “pack mule” prototype was designed to show that “a legged robot can unburden dismounted squad members by carrying their gear, autonomously following them through rugged terrain, and interpreting verbal and visual commands,” according to the DARPA website.

Alright before we talk about this any further, ya gotta see the video!

Sure doesn't look all that menacing or sleek like I'm used to seeing military equipment, in fact it looks kinda creepy in a silly be-headed kind of way. It sounds like a leaf-blower too, so it's a good thing it's hanging out with us because can you imagine a pack of these things trying to stampede an enemy division? If I were them I might just stand there staring, so it actually might serve as an effective diversion!

But anyway, it really is supposed to be a workhorse following our squads around carrying gear and maybe even injured soldiers too (heck of a stretcher... I wouldn't mind stubbing my toe or something just to get a ride!) Was pretty interesting watching it get up from an apparent fall and I laughed out loud watching a pair of them prance along and seeing one run at it's clocked top speed of 7mph. Well, at any rate if the military ends up scrapping the project, at least it can probably find work in Hollywood as an animatronic stand-in for a cow who can't contractually perform it's own stunts or doing something dangerous that the bovine union would disapprove of.

[Yahoo! News]