<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"The typical soldier can only carry about 100 lbs. worth of gear, but not indefinitely. DARPA's (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) new robotic mule, however, can carry 400 lbs. of gear and never get tired \u2014 and it can do it with a surprising degree of agility.\nPhysical overburden of soldiers is one of the top five biggest challenges for the U.S. army, according to DARPA, and a semi-autonomous legged robot, officially named the Legged Squad Support System (LS3), might be one way of fixing that problem. \nIn the video above, the LS3 prototype  (original developer Boston Dynamics also calls the robot \"AlphaDog\") shows its ability to follow a person using its sensors and distinguish between various terrain features and obstacles. \nIn the next 18 months, DARPA plans to complete the robot's development and ensure it's ready to carry 400 lbs on a 20-mile trek in 24-hours without refueling. It also plans to make it considerably smarter and more observant, making it obey commands such as \"stop,\" \"sit\" or \"come here,\" and updating its visual sensors so it can track a specific individual or object. The LS3 will ultimately be able to autonomously make course corrections if needed. \n\u201CIf successful, this could provide real value to a squad while addressing the military\u2019s concern for unburdening troops. LS3 seeks to have the responsiveness of a trained animal and the carrying capacity of a mule,\u201D said Army Lt. Col. Joe Hitt, DARPA program manager. \nRecent similar projects include the Warrior, an Xbox-controlled robot that can navigate rough terrain and lift up to 150 pounds using a mechanical arm. \n\nCheck out some of our other favorite robots in the slideshow below. \n\n\nAwesome Robots\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. The Cubinator\n\nWe met The Cubinator for the first time at the 2010 World Maker Faire. The robot currently holds the Guinness world record for fastest machine solve of a Rubik's cube. Pete Redmond, who developed the robot for the final project of his master's degree, says that its solve time averages about 25 seconds. Webcams in the robot's eyes detect the colors on the cube and the machine solves the puzzle by using an algorithm to find the fewest moves. It also has has a sense of humor, shouting \"oh dear!\" when it occasionally drops the cube.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Seaswarm\n\nEven though the environmental effects of the Gulf oil spill may not be as bad as we initially feared, we can probably all agree that the oil didn't do the environment any favors. A team from MIT developed a fleet of robots that could clean up more efficiently in the future. The robots are equipped with a nanomaterial that can absorb 20 times their weight in oil. Each machine communicates with the other machines via GPS and Wi-Fi \"to create an organized system for collection that can work continuously without human support.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Mint\n\nMaybe there are a few people out there who genuinely enjoy sweeping and mopping floors, but the rest of us want this robot. Mint determines its location using \"indoor GPS\" and creates a map of the space as it cleans. For $250 you can get rid of your housekeeper. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Snackbot\n\nA team at Carnegie Mellon University developed Snackbot to \"support research into robust autonomous operation in office environments.\" We're pretty sure that's code for, \"We could build a robot that delivers snacks, so why wouldn't we?\" Research will allow the robot to navigate through congested areas in a socially acceptable fashion, detect individual people moving near it, recognize when someone that the it knows approaches, and autonomously learn to recognize new objects.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard - E.M.I.L.Y. \nBaywatch is about to become even more unrealistic. EMILY, the robot lifeguard, isn't much to look at, but PopSci reports that it made 77,192 rescues last year. The current model is remote controlled, but a fully autonomous EMILY that uses a sonar device to scan for underwater movements will be available next spring.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Neil and Iona\n\nCreated by Jason Van Anden in 1996, Neil and Iona are considered elderly among working robots, but they were still spry and relevant enough to tour this year with the San Jose Museum of Art. The robots remain intriguing because of their ability to change expression, use body language and create \"strangely endearing sounds.\" Frankly, they're cute. This mini documentary explains their creation.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. KiRo/ StarKick\n\nYou've probably played chess against a computer before, but table soccer? This robot uses a camera to perceive the playing field and then decides how the rods under its control should be moved. Originally developed at the Institute for Computer Science of the University of Freiburg, the robot is now sold as a game called StarKick.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Snakebot\n\nAnother project at Carnegie Mellon University, the Snakebot uses its \"many internal degrees of freedom to thread through tightly packed volumes.\" In other words, it moves like a snake. It can coordinate the movements of its parts to swim, crawl, and even climb a tree.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. DepthX\n\nDepthX is a collaborative project designed to create an underwater robot that can map three-dimensional spaces like flooded caverns and mines. The machine will first explore the deepest flooded sink hole in the world, the Zacat\u00F3n Cenote in central Mexico.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. DOMO\n\nDOMO was the doctoral work of Aaron Edsinger at MIT. The ultimate cool robot, it can accomplish tasks like making a drink, helping with chores, tracking an object and interacting with people. Watch DOMO in action here.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/02/09/darpa-robot-mule/>