Marc Raibert

So we had six ISDN lines installed, and we would have a telecon every week that worked at very low frame rates, something like 10 hertz. You know, English across the boundary with Japan was a challenge, trying to understand what each of us was saying and have meetings every week. for several years doing that. And it was a pleasure working with them. They were really supporters.

They seemed to like us and what we were doing. That was the real transition from us being a simulation company into being a robotics company again.

They seemed to like us and what we were doing. That was the real transition from us being a simulation company into being a robotics company again.

They seemed to like us and what we were doing. That was the real transition from us being a simulation company into being a robotics company again.

Yeah, no, four legs, yeah.

Yeah, no, four legs, yeah.

Yeah, no, four legs, yeah.

Mostly we learned that something that small doesn't look very exciting when it's running. It's like it's scampering. And you had to watch a slow-mo for it to look like it was interesting. If you watch it fast, it was just like a... That's funny. One of my things was to show stuff in video, even from the very early days of the hopping machines.

Mostly we learned that something that small doesn't look very exciting when it's running. It's like it's scampering. And you had to watch a slow-mo for it to look like it was interesting. If you watch it fast, it was just like a... That's funny. One of my things was to show stuff in video, even from the very early days of the hopping machines.

Mostly we learned that something that small doesn't look very exciting when it's running. It's like it's scampering. And you had to watch a slow-mo for it to look like it was interesting. If you watch it fast, it was just like a... That's funny. One of my things was to show stuff in video, even from the very early days of the hopping machines.

And so I was always focused on how is this going to look through the viewfinder. And running AIBO didn't look so cool through the viewfinder.

And so I was always focused on how is this going to look through the viewfinder. And running AIBO didn't look so cool through the viewfinder.

And so I was always focused on how is this going to look through the viewfinder. And running AIBO didn't look so cool through the viewfinder.

I mean, you got to say that big dog was, you know, sort of put us on the map and got our heads really pulled together. We scaled up the company. Big dog was the result of, uh, Alan Rudolph at DARPA, uh, starting a biodynotics program and he put out a, you know, a request for proposals and, uh, I think there were 42 proposals written and three got funded. One was Big Dog.

I mean, you got to say that big dog was, you know, sort of put us on the map and got our heads really pulled together. We scaled up the company. Big dog was the result of, uh, Alan Rudolph at DARPA, uh, starting a biodynotics program and he put out a, you know, a request for proposals and, uh, I think there were 42 proposals written and three got funded. One was Big Dog.

I mean, you got to say that big dog was, you know, sort of put us on the map and got our heads really pulled together. We scaled up the company. Big dog was the result of, uh, Alan Rudolph at DARPA, uh, starting a biodynotics program and he put out a, you know, a request for proposals and, uh, I think there were 42 proposals written and three got funded. One was Big Dog.

One was a climbing robot, Rise. That put things in motion. We hired Martin Buehler. He was a professor in Montreal at McGill. He was incredibly important for getting Big Dog started. Out of the lab and into the mud, which is a key step to really be willing to go out there and build it, break it, fix it, which is sort of one of our mottos at the company.

One was a climbing robot, Rise. That put things in motion. We hired Martin Buehler. He was a professor in Montreal at McGill. He was incredibly important for getting Big Dog started. Out of the lab and into the mud, which is a key step to really be willing to go out there and build it, break it, fix it, which is sort of one of our mottos at the company.

One was a climbing robot, Rise. That put things in motion. We hired Martin Buehler. He was a professor in Montreal at McGill. He was incredibly important for getting Big Dog started. Out of the lab and into the mud, which is a key step to really be willing to go out there and build it, break it, fix it, which is sort of one of our mottos at the company.

Well, it's the first thing that worked. So let's see, if we go back to the leg lab, we built a quadruped that could do many of the things that Big Dog did, but it had a hydraulic pump sitting in the room with hoses connected to the robot. Mm-hmm. It had a VAX computer in the next room. It needed its own room because it was this giant thing with air conditioning.