You remember the All Terrain Armored Transport from the “Star Wars” films — those 50-foot tall, four-legged robots.

It was science fiction in 1980; not so much now. The Big Dog is an experimental mechanical “animal,” designed to carry gear for soldiers in combat. The Little Dog is a smaller observation device funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Like the Big Dog, it’s an experimental robot with a potential military application.

The SMSS — Squad Mission Support System — is no experiment. Up and running at Lockheed Missles and
Space in Grand Prairie, it’s ready to be drafted. With a range-finding head to “see” and on-board GPS to tell it where it is, the SMSS can carry more than a half-ton of supplies for soldiers in the field. It has, in essence, its own guidance system.

Source: Byron Harris for KVUE.