In the future, when the robots rule the Earth, at least Santa and his reindeer will still be delivering presents.
Boston Dynamics released a video on Tuesday showing its BigDog robots prancing ahead of a sleigh, ridden by one jolly person in a Santa suit, who was perhaps unaware of the coming robot apocalypse.
BigDog weighs a hefty 240 pounds, but can only run around 4 mph, which would make for a long night of delivering presents. In the video, a single robot pulls the sleigh — an easy task for a machine that is capable of carrying a 340-pound load. And yes, the robot in front has a red nose.
Boston Dynamics started out as a spin-off from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology lab before it was bought by Google in 2013.
It's also known for its humanoid ATLAS robots, which are widely used by robotics researchers across the country, and were a common sight at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals in June. Right now, it's not clear if Boston Dynamics is also working on a robot Santa Claus and tiny, robotic elves.
