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Yeah. As I was watching the video, I kept thinking "why not just use a horse?". But I think it's safe to say that this isn't going to be used just for carrying

by john2x 15y ago

Yeah. As I was watching the video, I kept thinking "why not just use a horse?". But I think it's safe to say that this isn't going to be used just for carrying stuff. They're aiming to ultimately weaponize it and use the new tech to create other cool stuff.

InclinedPlane 15y ago
Horses and camels require food, shelter, and care. Let's say you want to have the capability of offloading 100lbs of equipment (say, 40 lbs of food, about 1500 rounds of ammunition, and about 20 lbs of miscellaneous other equipment) from soldiers so they can fight more effectively and for longer (up to a month or so), and you want to have a standing ability to be able to do this for up to 2,000 soldiers at any given time. This means you need to buy 500 "alpha dogs" and then keep them in storage somewhere until needed. Or it means you need to buy about 1,000 camels. Which require about 30-40 lbs of food and water a day, and produce as much urine and manure per day as well. That's five thousand tons of food and water a year, and five thousand tons of urine and manure a year. You need to build shelter to house them and you need to hire people to take care of them. You need to treat them when they are injured, you need to replace them when they are too injured to work or when they die. You need to train them. And they probably won't survive spending a month without food and water, even camels. In contrast, a robotic pack mule left without supplies for a month is merely inactive and can be retrieved and refueled. Also, horses, mules, and camels are fragile. Far more fragile than humans under extreme conditions.
- schiffern 15y ago
  Well, camels can carry twice as much as the Alpha Dog, so you'd actually need 250 camels. Camels don't even need to eat every day. They eat pretty much anything that grows in the desert. It looks like they can eat "up to" 10 lb/day. Being a desert animal, the camel has a exceptionally efficient kidneys, so they don't need to urinate a lot. There's a reason people have used camels for thousands of years in the desert. In the Middle East healthy camel costs around $1000. That cost must include food, breeding, training, etc. It's hard to imagine ever getting the price of an Alpha Dog down to that level. I also have a hard time believing that a camel is less resilient than a human being in its native environment.

by john2x 15y ago

InclinedPlane 15y ago

Horses and camels require food, shelter, and care. Let's say you want to have the capability of offloading 100lbs of equipment (say, 40 lbs of food, about 1500 rounds of ammunition, and about 20 lbs of miscellaneous other equipment) from soldiers so they can fight more effectively and for longer (up to a month or so), and you want to have a standing ability to be able to do this for up to 2,000 soldiers at any given time. This means you need to buy 500 "alpha dogs" and then keep them in storage somewhere until needed. Or it means you need to buy about 1,000 camels. Which require about 30-40 lbs of food and water a day, and produce as much urine and manure per day as well. That's five thousand tons of food and water a year, and five thousand tons of urine and manure a year. You need to build shelter to house them and you need to hire people to take care of them. You need to treat them when they are injured, you need to replace them when they are too injured to work or when they die. You need to train them. And they probably won't survive spending a month without food and water, even camels. In contrast, a robotic pack mule left without supplies for a month is merely inactive and can be retrieved and refueled. Also, horses, mules, and camels are fragile. Far more fragile than humans under extreme conditions.

schiffern 15y ago
Well, camels can carry twice as much as the Alpha Dog, so you'd actually need 250 camels. Camels don't even need to eat every day. They eat pretty much anything that grows in the desert. It looks like they can eat "up to" 10 lb/day. Being a desert animal, the camel has a exceptionally efficient kidneys, so they don't need to urinate a lot. There's a reason people have used camels for thousands of years in the desert. In the Middle East healthy camel costs around $1000. That cost must include food, breeding, training, etc. It's hard to imagine ever getting the price of an Alpha Dog down to that level. I also have a hard time believing that a camel is less resilient than a human being in its native environment.