Photos: How Spot, the military robot dog, sniffs out enemies

Ben Swilling, a roboticist from DARPA, operates Spot.

"I think a robot like Spot has tons of opportunities," said Swilling, suggesting uses such as scouting and carrying loads.

Swilling controlled Spot via radio link using a black Xbox 360 controller and a laptop.

Spot remained operational from as far away as 500m.

"It's actually very easy to operate the robots," said Swilling. "We have had people as young as four run the robot around."

Here, Spot maneuvers through a ditch during a demonstration.

Throughout the week the marines tested Spot's ability to traverse different terrain - including hills, woodlands, and urban settings.

Above, DARPA employees give Spot a helping hand.

While the marines don't have plans to deploy Spot, the service is keen on using a smaller, quieter bot of the same type.

"Spot is great and has exceeded the metrics that we've provided," said Captain James Pineiro, the branch head for Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. "We see it as a great potential for the future dismounted infantry."

The service found the bot to be more agile than its bigger brothers, the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) and BigDog, also made by Boston Dynamics.

DARPA is also hoping to broaden the pool of robotics technology available to the US military by offering $150,000 funding to individuals and small robotics teams to develop prototype systems that could help troops in the field.

The US military is very interested in deploying robots to help troops. Last year General Robert Cone, then head of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command, said the army was looking at reducing personnel and increasing the use of robots.

DARPA's Swilling is clear on what he sees as the benefits of such a move.

"Robots can't get shot and they can't die. If you need to send someone into danger's way, you don't want anyone to get hurt."