Boston Dynamic's robotic mule is unfit for military service at this time, the Marines announced. Under a contract with the Pentagon's research unit Defense Advanced Research Projects Agancy, Google's Boston Dynamics created the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) to carry loads over 400 pounds for Marine troops. Take a look in the video below.


LS3 began field-testing in the summer of 2014 at Rim of the Pacific, which is reported by Military.com as "the largest military exercise in the Pacific region." The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab put the robotic mule to the test, demonstrating its ability to "respond to commands and cross rugged ground."

It's major shortcoming, though, was that it was too loud.

"As Marines were using it, there was the challenge of seeing the potential possibility because of the limitations of the robot itself," Warfighting Lab spokesman Kyle Olson told Military.com. "They took it as it was: a loud robot that's going to give away their position."

The machine sounded much like a lawnmower due to the gas-powered engine, but a smaller, quieter robot wasn't much use either. Back in September, the Marines started testing Boston Dynamic's robotic dog prototype, Spot, but it was only able to carry around 40 pounds—better suited as a "ground reconnaissance asset," said Capt. James Pineiro of the Warfighting Lab.

"The problem is, Spot in its current configuration doesn't have the autonomy to do that. It has the ability to walk in its environment, but it's completely controller-driven."

So for now, both robots have retired, but Olson notes that the tests haven't been a waste: "Learning from it was a big part, and we're still learning."

Boston Dynamics has plenty more terrifying robots to share with us. In August, the company brought its humanoid robot Atlas out into the wild for testing.

They are extremely cool, didn't know they were that loud tho. I've seen another vid of them running too, amazing

could you imagine one of those with a mounted turret on top of it, shooting anything more than 200 meters out with deadly precision? as a marine, i wouldnt mind rollin into town with one of those covering my extended range.