Robot Dogs: Man's Best Friend and Useful Tool

Kids like myself who grew up playing video games and watching cartoons, such as Mega Man, were envious of main characters who had a robot dog as a best friend who was a helpful tool in missions. We would say, "Man, it would be cool to have a robot dog as a friend who has neat gadgets!" 
Mega Man was first featured as a Famicom game released for the NES in 1987. The protagonist and hero Mega Man was later assisted by his robot dog Rush in the release of Mega Man 3. Mega Man's faithful robotic dog was created by Dr. Light to assist Mega Man in his travels. Rush was able to transform into a coil, a hoverboard, a submarine. a motorcycle and a flying sled. He also had jet capabilities and a detection mode to help find things Mega Man could use. Not only was he a faithful companion and best friend to Mega Man, but he was a useful tool on their travels together.

Mega Man is not the only cartoon hero to have a robotic dog friend. Jimmy Neutron aired on Nickelodeon in mid-2002 featuring the boy genius Jimmy Neutron and his robot dog, which he created himself, Goddard. Goddard like Rush is a friend and a useful tool. Goddard has a seemingly unlimited supply of gadgets built into him. The show often hints that Goddard has some means of holding more matter within himself than his size would suggest. Goddard is known to have self-destruct and self-reconstruction capabilities; a scooter, flight-cycle, and helicopter mode (in which his ears spin like rotors), as well as voice projecting and recording abilities, a fire extinguisher, laser eye beams, the ability to transmit what he sees to Jimmy's computer, a radar, a winch, and many other gadgets. He can also mimic other dogs in numerous ways.  

It seems that robot dogs are becoming reality and not just the fantastical idea of kids. BigDog is a quadrupedal robot created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics, in conjunction with Foster-Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It's funded by DARPA in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for vehicles. It is designed to carry 340 pounds (150kg) alongside a soldier at 4 miles per hour (6.4 Km/h; 1.8M/s), traversing rough terrain at inclines up to 35 degrees. 

Similarly, LittleDog is a small quadruped robot also created by Boston Dynamics and funded by DARPA. Unlike BigDog, LittleDog is intended as a testbed for other institutions. The legs have a large range of motion, and is strong enough for climbing and dynamic locomotion gaits. The on-board PC-level computer does sensing, actuator control and communications which measure joint angles, motor currents, body orientation and foot/ground contact. Control programs access the robot through the Boston Dynamics Robot API. Wireless communications and data logging support remote operation and data analysis.

Although BigDog and LittleDog are not as utilitarian as Rush and Goddard they still represent amazing leaps in technological advancement. These robotic "dogs" are the first of their kind and I am sure that modifications will be made and someday cartoon characters like Rush and Goddard could be possible. I don't think we will have need of a robotic dog with laser beam eyes, but using one as a pack mule, as BigDog has been designed to do, is a good start.