This silent film shows tests of the General Electric Walking Truck, also known as the Cybernetic Walking Machine or “CAM”. The footage dates to about 1965-69 and shows how the CAM could be used to pick up objects, move across uneven terrain, and even push or pull a large object (in this case a Jeep).
The Walking Truck was a quadruped walking vehicle designed by G.E. engineer Ralph Mosher. The surviving prototype is now on display at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum in Fort Eustis, Virginia. Featuring a cab which could hold a human operator, the CAM weighed 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) and could walk up to 5 miles per hour (8 km/h). According to Mosher, who also served as driver in many tests, the CAM was very taxing for operators to control, causing the program to never advance beyond the test phase. (Of course today quadruped robots like Big Dog and Quattroped are on the scene!) Mosher also helped developed other interesting robots for G.E. including the ambitious Handyman remote anthropomorphic arm system (used in G.E. plants to handle dangerous or hazardous components) and the Hardiman powered exoskeleton. Handyman proved somewhat successful but the Hardiman, like the CAM, never went beyond the test phase due.
The CAM’s design dates to 1962, when G.E.’s Ordinance Dept. in Pittsfield, Mass., undertook a study for the U.S. Army to examine how a “pedipulator” manned walking machine, with arms and legs, could operate where tractors might get stuck.” It would be designed with 12-foot legs and travel at 35 mph. Engineers envisioned that machines like this would replace stretcher bearers on the battlefield and could also transport men and equipment on rough or muddy terrain.The limbs of the machine would follow the movements of the operator’s limbs.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
