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Robots Go Spelunking
anakog writes "Yahoo! News runs a story about robots being used by the military in Afghanistan to search caves. The article features a few
slides
with pictures and comments. This seems to be the first time robots are used as tools for combat, although the article does not say if they have encountered any resistance yet. There is no mention of the manufacturer of the robots, however, I am fairly certain that they are the PackBots manufactured by IRobot. I happened to visit Real World Interface (which later merged with IRobot) a couple of years ago and saw the PackBots' predecessors, which were called Urban Robots. The company had a contract with the Department of Defence. As the name implies, the military were envisioning to use the robots to scan buildings in urban areas back then."
F1rst ?
do these obey the 'three laws of robotics' or wot?
Everyone knows that nothing can beat a Jedi Knight in combat.
... let me see, clicking the link in my robots.net Slashdot sidebar confirms that, yes - they are indeed iRobot Packbots. ;-)
A little planning goes a long way...
Any questions ?
(appended to the end of comments I post, 120 chars)
I wonder how long until the army starts to attach other things besides cameras to these little bots. Chemical sensors, IR, guns, a few pounds of C4 and some roofing nails....
I would like the see the terrorists vs the RoboCup bots in fight. You can go in with info-red mounted cameras and hydraulic stabilized guns, but there would be nothing cooler than watching a ton of 5 foot robots slug it out with 'em UFC style.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
I am actually considering electrolux's vacuum-cleaning robot. Does anyone have opinions on that one?
What are other affordable and useful robots? I know only of the vacuum-cleaner and Husqwarna's lawn-mower.
a story about spelunking and no goatse post yet???
Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
Didnt we learn anything from 'terminator'?
Kewl.
I am fairly certain that they are the PackBots manufactured by IRobot.
Well I'm sure you are wrong. It is just Bender bending his way throug the caves
All work and no play makes me a dull boy
The robots in this article appear to be remotely controlled by a human operator but I can't help think that over time these robots and their predecessors will be given limited autonomy to execute tasks, and perhaps even kill. So given that future (which I admit is unlikely), what happens if a bot fails to obey the oxymoronicly-titled but somehow accepted Law of Land Warfare? If this violation came to trial, who would stand accused of the crime?
After viewing the yahoo "slidewhow" I had assumed that the article was just a cheesy way to sell digital cameras.
I was privledged to see the Packbot demo'd at ALS in Oakland last year. It crawled down the stage stairs, back up the stairs, then off the stage, a 3.5-4 foot drop! They had a video clip of it running through a small "water hazard". It was completly submerged, and all you saw was the wake. Rather impressive.
The same company, iRobot, makes these
Dolls.
In WWII, the German army used a remote control tank that was filled with explosives and driven into a target. A photo is here (about half down the page).
While not a true robot (I think these were control via wires), they were used in combat a good bit, including attacking landing craft during the D-Day invasion.
Another German tank, the Borgward IV was a surviable remote control vehicle driven by radio and was used to lay mines, telephone wire and the likes.
...to tell us "spelunking" is a newbie term?
I'll think you'll find that it is the US military. The above quote is either ethnocentric or ambiguous.
-- RTFM:Slackware::Beer:Saturday
Optimus hummed to himself rather tunelessly as he squirted out another glob of cleansing solvent onto his rag. He enjoyed this time of day, when the bustle of his troops would not commence for a few more hours and he had a few precious moments of peace.
He reached up and adjusted the showerhead to spray directly on his chassis. The public shower room was much less comfortable than his personal grooming area, but for the moment there was nothing that could be done. His own shower unit was merely one item in a pile of work orders for maintenance. Optimus confessed to himself that it wasn't just that these showers were smaller and the showerhead had to be adjusted for each mech; it was the lack of privacy that bothered him. The stalls were open in the back and had only small partitions on the sides that concealed very little, since anyone could just look over the top. "I don't know how they do it," he murmured, thinking of those in the lower ranks that had to endure such conditions. He knew that they had become used to it quickly and probably didn't even think about it anymore, but he himself was a very private person and was self-conscious when naked around others.
Prime groaned a bit as the warm liquid helped to loosen the tension in his knotted muscle cables. He rubbed the cleansing rag over his solid chest and sighed. Usually he just took a brisk tepid shower once every week or two, when Earth's particulate built up in his systems, but every now and then a leisurely warm shower was very nice. Alita was right, he should indulge himself more often. Relishing the sensations, he slipped the rag a bit lower, running it over his grillwork in even circular strokes. A flutter ran down his belly and he shivered deliciously, enjoying the sensations his body was giving him.
He jumped suddenly as he heard someone enter, whistling softly. "Damn!" he cursed softly. Leave it to one of his soldiers to ruin the moment. He hung his head as his conscience pricked at him. He knew it was wrong of him to feel this way -- after all, it was their shower area and he was the intruder. 'Who would be up this early?' he wondered, turning slightly to see.
A stocky young mech wandered into his field of vision, and Optimus had to clamp his vocalizer shut to seal in the gasp that rose to his lips. He was gorgeous! The newcomer was tall and solidly built, with a red and yellow paint job. He bore a vague resemblance to Hot Rod, which made Optimus wonder if they were somehow related. The mech's helmet was sculpted to fit snugly around his head, and his optics were a piercing blue. But that wasn't the half of it. Prime's gaze was drawn down the young mech's strong shoulders, over the thickly plated chest, to the powerful bulging thighs, then up to the rather large codpiece that lay between them. Optimus moaned softly and, without really thinking about it, moved his soapy rag down to his very warm interface, which twitched and jumped at the contact.
'NO!' he berated himself as he felt his organ begin to rise. 'This is wrong of me! The poor mech just got here and already I'm sizing him up. He's one of my troops; I shouldn't be feeling this way.' He recognized the mech as one of a handful of soldiers that had been recently transferred off of a lonely outpost to Autobot City for extra training. Although he had never had the chance to formally introduce himself and speak to the newcomers, this one in particular had caught his gaze before. He always seemed to stand out, even in a crowd.
"Primus, no!" he whispered as his cock stubbornly hardened underneath the rag. Although Alita had helped him accept his long-repressed bisexuality and even supported him after various male sexual encounters, he couldn't help feeling chagrined every time his body reacted to an alluring mech. Optimus cringed as the male glanced his way curiously, and he feigned washing his interface, rubbing the cleansing rag gently over the inflamed surface. He bit back an agonized moan as the sensations threatened to overwhelm him.
The mech began softly whistling as he looked away and began slowly removing his armor plating. He smiled to himself as he continued to watch the illustrious leader out of the corner of his optic. He had been looking forward to meeting the Autobot leader, and though he hadn't pictured their first meeting in the shower area, he was not about to complain. He had seen many pictures of Optimus Prime and found the well-built male to be very sexy.
"Say, that's the male that Alita told me about," Prime realized, forgetting his embarrassing arousal for the moment. He knew that this mech had instantly become very popular among the femmes, yet had ultimately disappointed them. From the moment his mate had laid eyes on the new arrival, Alita had gushed about how gorgeous he was and had concocted several "official" meetings in order to get to know him better. Optimus wasn't offended; they both knew that it was impossible to not look at the other sex, and their relationship wouldn't have survived so long if they got jealous each time the other's optics wandered. Still, he couldn't help bursting out laughing when Alita complained to him that the mech didn't even look at her body twice, and that the other femmes had tried their damndest to grab the new mech's attention and had gotten absolutely nowhere. Since they were used to getting whatever sex-starved mech they wanted, they took this as a personal affront.
"Well, what's this?" the young mech asked himself as his optics ran over the shiny wet form of the large Autobot before him. He noticed that the large mech's hands seemed to be preoccupied with his interface. At first it just looked like he was giving it a wash, but his hands lingered over the surface, and his stance looked rather tense.... The newcomer looked closer... yep, he was positive he could make out a 'tent' concealed under that cloth. He couldn't bite back the grin that rose to his lips. He hadn't imagined that the illustrious Autobot leader's tastes ran that way, but he certainly wasn't about to complain. It was shaping up to be a very nice day, indeed!
He giggled a bit behind his hand. Oh, how rude of him! He'd been standing there for several minutes and he'd neglected to introduce himself. "Hello there," he purred, biting back a smile as the red, white, and blue mech jumped guiltily.
Prime suppressed the urge to cower in shame and replied, "Hello," then winced at the nervousness his vocalizer betrayed. "I'm Optimus Prime. I'm sorry I didn't have the opportunity to introduce myself sooner."
"I'm Flamer," the young mech replied. "Don't worry about it, I know how busy you are. Sorry to intrude on your privacy though." 'NOT!' he grinned to himself. Before Optimus could react, Flamer stepped into his stall, hand outstretched. Prime clasped it in his own in a modified version of the human handshake. He flinched as his tingling cord began to stiffen even more, cursing his body and praying that the soldier wouldn't notice.
Flamer had most definitely noticed and was openly ogling his leader's endowment. "Nice," he smirked. "Are you always half-stiff or are you just happy to see me?" Seeing the absolute horror in Prime's optics, he continued, "I, for one, am most definitely happy to see you."
Those words managed to reach through the fog surrounding Optimus' CPU. In a daze, his optics roved down Flamer's sculpted belly to a cock that was rising to attention. The orange mech grinned. "It's only proper to salute my commanding officer. Now is there any way to kiss you, or do I have to improvise?"
In a daze, Optimus reached up and unfastened his mask, slowly bringing it away from his face. Flamer grinned at the yummy vision that was revealed. "If I were you, I'd never cover up that handsome mug." Before Optimus could think of a reply, the young mech pulled him into a searing kiss.
Prime moaned slightly as his lips made contact. He had trouble confessing it, but he loved kissing men. Their lips were firmer and less yielding than that of a femme, plus males tended to be more aggressive. His kiss grew rougher, challenging Flamer to keep up as he wrapping his arms around his new lover. Flamer pressed against him suggestively, always up for a sexual challenge.
Prime groaned in disappointment as the luscious mech's lips left his own, but the feeling soon faded as they trailed down his neck. Flamer's oral probe slipped out and teased its way down his leader's firm chest. Optimus gasped as his erection extended to its fullest length, beckoning his new lover onward. "Ahhhhh, yes," he moaned softly.
Flamer took his cue and slid his hands down the red Autobot's flat grill, past his waist, then teasingly down along his thighs. He couldn't hide his pleased grin when Optimus shifted his hips, encouraging contact with his swollen cock. "Getting a bit impatient, aren't we?" he chuckled softly, trying to ignore his own erection. "So," he said matter-of-factly, "what would you like? Hm?"
Prime was momentarily stunned. He had a choice? He studied the delicious orange mech crouched by his feet, solvent spray making his armor glisten enticingly. He licked his lips, pondering. Mmm, where to begin? The proximity of his mouth to his cock was definitely giving him ideas. "Ohhh, blow me!" he gasped, praying his new partner wouldn't let him down.
"As you command, sir!" Flamer chuckled. Never one to rush things, he started off slowly, licking the glistening tip of his leader's sizable erection. He smiled around his trophy as Prime's whimpers rose in pitch. He slowly slid the throbbing pole into his mouth, shuddering himself as the taste of precum filled his oral cavity. He couldn't believe this was happening! He, Flamer, was giving a blowjob to the most revered Autobot in history, and the one he had fantasized about for so long. The realization of his fantasies caused his restraint to snap, and he began deep-throating that magnificent organ like there was no tomorrow. His hand seized his own cock and began expertly stroking his fist down its quivering length.
Optimus leaned back and braced himself against the wall, moaning in abandon as the skilled male performed one of the best blowjobs he'd ever had. Alita was certainly talented in that department, but somehow not even she could satisfy like a male who knew exactly what spots to hit and how it would feel. His legendary control was cracking as he pistoned his hips against the mouth that sucked him so eagerly. "Ahhh, mmm, yes, don't stop!" he begged, praying that the incredible sensations would go on forever. His cries took on an urgent note as he felt spasms beginning to seize him. "Ah god, I'm cumming!" he tried to warn his partner in case he didn't want to receive a mouth full of cum. However, Flamer just grinned and sheathed his cock inside his mouth, tickling the underside with his oral probe. That was the last bit of stimulation he needed to send him over the edge, and Optimus let go with an abandoned cry that echoed off the shower walls, writhing in ecstasy as his cock squirted down his delectable partner's eager throat, which swallowed every drop.
At last the delicious tremors died away, and he shivered slightly as his cock deflated. Flamer gave it a thorough cleaning, then released it reluctantly. He stood, relishing the patter of solvent on his heated and unsatisfied body. "So, was it good for you?" he quipped. Optimus pulled him into a heated kiss, tasting his cum on the boy's mouth. "You know it was," he growled as he released his new toy. Prime studied the young mech, just now realizing how painfully hard he was. "My my, what a delicious sight! Can't let that marvelous erection go to waste, now can we?" he purred, relishing this sexual encounter very much. He didn't know what it was about this mech that enticed him, but it had to be something special, for his satisfied cock was already twitching back to life, ready for more fun. "Soooo," he whispered seductively in the mech's ear, "what would *you* like to do now?"
Flamer's grin stretched to each audial. "I thought you'd never ask!" he smirked. "I've been admiring that tight rear of yours ever since I walked in. What do you say to a little backdoor action?" He waited breathlessly for a reply.
The response was immediate and affirmative as Prime's interface sprang back to life. "Oh, Primus, that sounds incredible," Optimus whispered almost reverently. He loved taking a well-formed cock up his recharge port! There was nothing like it that a female could offer him. His wonderful mate had introduced him to the concept with a strap-on dildo, but nothing could compare to the searing warmth of an aroused interface pounding into his willing ass. Slowly he turned around and bent over, planting both hands against the shower wall for support. He spread his legs, providing a strong stance and also giving Flamer access to his recharge port.
Flamer quivered in excitement as he was faced with the most beautiful sight in the world. How many times had he dreamed of slipping into that tight opening, only to wake up and find it was only a dream? Now he was faced with reality, and it was all he could do to keep from creaming himself and missing out on it. He balled up his fists, forcing his cock to behave. He wanted to make sure that Optimus was ready to accommodate his ample dimensions.
Prime moaned erotically as the sexy mech began to lovingly caress his aft plating, slipping a finger into the somewhat small hole. He gasped, hips pumping of their own accord. Oh, Primus, he wanted this so badly! He knew now that he could never give this up. "Please, Flamer! Hurry! I can't stand the suspense!" he begged. He had already had one draining climax and already his body was clamoring for another.
Flamer could no longer hold back as he positioned himself behind his leader's rear. His hand smoothed precum over the head of his phallus, making sure it was well-lubricated for his entry. He shuddered in anticipation as the tip rubbed against the opening, then, unable to bear the wait, plunged in to the hilt.
Optimus cried out at the burning entry, half from lust and half from pain. The recharge port was designed to accommodate a small plug that provided energy, not a large and pistoning interface, but everyone knew that it could serve that purpose as well. Prime gasped as the pain gave way for searing lust. Flamer pounded eagerly into his rear, and Optimus felt every thrust of that mighty cock penetrating him. He threw back his head and cried out again. He had never thought that penetration, or having a cock buried within him, could feel so damned good! The pain subsided as his recharge port expanded slightly to allow for the large organ buried within. His control snapped and he pushed back with all his might, howling without restraint. "YES! Oh, god, fuck me please! I need it!" he begged, heedless of anything but the incredible sensations swamping his body.
"You got it! Oh Primus, you're so tight!" Flamer panted as he thrust harder into the Autobot leader. He had never had such a fine piece of ass in his entire life, and he only regretted that he couldn't make this last forever. His mind cleared enough to realize that Prime's cock was painfully hard and unattended, for its owner was busy bracing himself against the wall for the leverage to thrust backwards.
A strong orange hand gripped his straining erection, and Optimus outright screamed as his arousal threatened to make it explode. He was past coherent speech as he whimpered desperately, trying to spur on his talented lover riding him from behind. His neck arched, and he turned his face upward into the stream of solvent, the tickling sensation driving both of them insane. "MORE!" he growled, sensing the spasms from the cock buried up his aft and knowing that his lover was going to blow his load any second now.
Flamer sobbed, overwhelmed by the divine sensations that wracked his body as he thrust with all of his might, feeling the pulsations in his cock and knowing his release was at hand. "Ah, Prime! Ooooh, yes!" he moaned as his cock could finally take no more and surged into orgasm, spraying fluid into the mighty Autobot leader like a high-pressure hose. The sensation of a young cock throbbing in ecstasy within him was more than he could take, and Optimus threw back his head and screamed his arousal, his lustful cry echoing throughout the room as his cock burst, shooting powerful streams of cum all over his lover's pumping hand and against the wall. He pumped his hips desperately, milking his orgasm for all it was worth, face screwed up in an expression of unimaginable release.
He sighed as his release wound down, leaving his body throbbing in contentment. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so satisfied. He heard similar sounds of contentment from Flamer as he gently pulled out of Prime's rear. The next few moments were spent in silence, the two gazing at each other as they bathed one another and took care of the telltale evidence of their tryst, such as Prime's cum sprayed on the wall.
Prime sighed, this time in disappointment, as he checked his internal chronometer. "Time for me to go," he said sadly. "I enjoyed my time with you."
"We'll have to do it again sometime," Flamer smirked, turning off the shower unit, then stepped out, looking for his armor.
"That's an order!" Optimus said playfully as he suited up. He strode towards the door, then paused and looked back. "At ease, soldier," he said softly. "I look forward to sparring with you again."
Just think - mabye they will feed the video of these bots running around to the media. Yeah... a LIVE show... with Geraldo doing the commentary... just think of the ratings when one of em blows someone away!! And we would get to see it!!
Kewwll!!
What would they name the show??
Uh.. mabye Running CAVEman? (ooh, that sucked, someone come up with a better one)
Israeli sapper robot in action.
spelunker n.
One who explores caves chiefly as a hobby; a caver.
[From obsolete spelunk, cave, from Middle English, from Old French spelunque, from Latin spelunca, from Greek spelunx.]
spelunking n.
---
Live Long & Prosper \\//_
CYA STUX =`B^) 'da Captain,
Jedi & Last *-fytr
I'd love to see how the ubiquitous Microsoft "Not responsible for anything resembling a failure" line would hold up in a war crimes trial, after an XP-ACE powered demolition unit inadvertently levels a hospital.
Or they'll know all the weaknesses when Mauler 5150 or Nightmare come rolling into their cave.
If they run into Whyachi though, we might have to send in some robotic shop vacs to clean up the mess.
Clearly, what is called for here is semi-autonomous robotic spiders.
-a
How to rationalize theft.
...can you integrate them with your .Mac subscription?
Like car accidents, most hardware problems are due to driver error.
Finally we are catching up to one of the standard elements of sci-fi. E.g. one current example involving the military, on Stargate SG-1 they usually send a robot probe through the gate first, to make sure the planet they are about to has an atmosphere and isn't full of enemies ready to shoot them as soon as they step through the gate. The Stargate robots are bigger though, since they are loaded with measuring devices. They also use small remote-controlled aircraft on Stargate, another thing the US military is starting to explore. (That's one reason I like Stargate -- it's very grounded in current real life.)
:-)
Also, the guy in the third photo in the slides linked to in the article looks like he is wearing a Borg eyepiece.
... just think of the ratings when one of em blows someone away!! And we would get to see it!!
Kewwll!!
Yeah. Unbelievably cool. Want to volunteer ?
Johnny 5 *is* alive!
Can these make the difference between weddings and military camps? Oh, technology used by idiots is such a cool thing.
Uhhh.... Helloo??... Dude, I was being sarcastic.. you know - kidding, joking around, as in funny haha
This shit is OLD and therefore not news. Bots have been used for demolition duties for YEARS! You shits need the lameness filter turned all the way up! It should be a Brainless filter! Blow me now!
So. Take a few of these handy dandy robots and merge them into the Robocode project from IBM ( Here ) and you could _really_ have some fun!
Well - then never mind. Obviously overlooked the irony tags. Sorry then :-)
Geraldo Rivera, eh? Searching for treasure in Al Queda's Vaults? Maybe he could send one of those robots back into Al Capone's Vaults, and maybe it would find something this time. For those too young to remember, it was the highest rated TV special of all time, and there was nothing in there. If Capone had ever used that hidden basement as a vault, he cleaned it out.
How ya like dat?
... sources. This is an AP story, that Yahoo placed on their news portal. Yahoo doesn't RUN any kind of stories. -- ellis
GetTheJob.com : Nothing but Real Jobs.
That struck me as a little odd, and unrealistic.
Geraldo deserves everything bad that happens to him.
..channel had a good show on robots and how the military would use them. Hermes looks like the robot they were demoing on tv. The soldier just grabbed it by the handle and flung it over a wall and let it go searching. It seemed really durable.
They also had these awesome little spy planes that fit inside a briefcase. To launch it, they had a little air piston that shot it into flight.
Live web cams
What happens when it is time to turn it off
tells us all about the military's secret robots capbable of single-handedly kicking all of Hong Kong's contengent of the Big Bad Red Army.
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so
If things can be fastened to it with bolts, welding, rope, or duct tape, it will carry weapons. It's a matter of what is needed and what can be done.
If they rely on GPS for navigation, the robots must not be able to get that far into the cave. For that matter, I imagine the video feed and wireless communications are a major limiting factor on the depth to which the robot can explore -- I know the robo-mining people have been trying to solve this problem for some time now. Sure, the military probably has some nifty alien technology and all, but a cave is a cave, and RF is RF. I'd guess the controller still needs to be reasonably close for this to work well. My own teleoperated robot is nowhere near as kewl (as the kids say) , but if there are enough requests, I'd be happy to install a grenade launcher.
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
I certianly remember that, which is the precise reason in my post I used Geraldo, to make it even more ridiculous.
Yanks crack me up!
Buckets,
pompomtom
"There's an exception to every rule. Except for some rules"
I was at Acroname's Robo02 robotics expo in Boulder, Colorado, earlier this year.
e ry.html.
Lt. Colonel John Blitch (US Army, Ret.), of the Center for Robotic Assisted Search and Rescue, brought one of the Packbots that had been used in Afghanistan to the expo for his presentation on robotic search and rescue. (The robot still had Afghan dirt all over it).
A similar model was used, and lost, during the search at the World Trade Center site. Pictures of it at the WTC can be seen at http://www.csee.usf.edu/robotics/crasar/photoGall
The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in spaceH^H^H^H^H^caves, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots. Thank you.
Re: Same Robot Used to Search WTC site
Dammit, I forgot to include two links:
Robo02: http://www.robo02.com/
Acroname: http://www.acroname.com/
Sorry about that...
'cause it's helpin' Dubya fight "terroism".
PS: I know how to spell it... I spelled it the way I hear TOO many people pronounce it... they make it rhyme with heroism.
PPS: On topic since these bots run Linux.
I wonder if they could make something akin to those funky bots in either Matrix or Minority Report. A bunch of big ugly sqidbots would be scary. A hundred or so tiny little metallic spiders would equally strike fear into enemy hearts Yes, unrealistic, but an amusing thought... --------- Beware, the anal probe!
what the heck happened to good old bravery?
The technical term for these robots is Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle (TUGV).
Waitaminnit... a company named for an Isaac Asimov book? Seems like an infringement to me...
Let's get this clear. Some guys sent a radio controled car with a camera on it into a cave.
"It's history in the making".
Is there actually anything novel happening here? Or is the U.S military actually just trying to manufacturer some good news to
1. Justify funding
2. Justify funding.
It's not just a teleoperator, either. It has sonars, GPS, and a magnetic compass. It ought to be able to retrace a route it's already taken.
You'd probably want to get Davros to program them like his Daleks
"Seek. Locate. Exterminate!"
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
The real-life man-sized six-legged tree-harvesting freak used for commercial foresting.
When a Talabot dies in battle, does it get to link into 72 virgin Cray's in it's afterlife?
Table-ized A.I.
IMHO these are merely remote controlled surveillance systems generously equipped with a grenade launcher and 12 gage shotgun.
The buzz bombs of WWII were more autonomous than these and thus more like a true robot. In the same vein, cruise missiles are more autonomous and thus much more "robotic" to me.
Don't believe the hype...
Yosemite Sam did this in a cartoon. He was "Yosemite Sam of Outer Space" and used various robots to go into Bugs Bunny's home to root him out.
Slashdot = alt.religion.windows.mpaa.riaa.sucks
Nobody read the article and noticed this? People keep posting that they're wondering how long it will take for the Army to put weapons on these.
The typical geek response to a robot is "Oh...HOW CUTE!" and run up to it to find out how it works. I think that a flotilla of shotgun-toting robots would change that response pretty quickly.
So they're already armed. How long before we see lines of robots armed with shotguns and tear gas herding protestors, or quashing riots? Good or bad, you decide.
...
From iRobot's website (http://www.irobot.com/corp/p02.asp):
"Our Corporate Mission statement is fourfold, but simple: Make money, have fun, build cool stuff, and change the world."
I feel so much safer now.
Other advantages:
In short, the Imperial Probe Droid is an excellent tool for uncovering hidden rebel bases.
Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
As part of the same program for which the packbots were developed, NASA's JPL has worked with iRobot on adding sensors and software to make more autonomous versions of these same platforms. My small company (Rossum Technologies) has been part of this effort for several years. Our 'urbie' version has stereo vision, omnidirectional cameras, laser range finder, infra-red cameras and more. Besides basic obstacle avoidance the robot is capable of autonomous stair climbing, visual-based navigation, leader-follower and others. Read more on JPL's web site
http://www.acl.lanl.gov/linuxbios/news/index.html# packbot2
why not just use Lego Mindstorms? Just add a brick or two for weight. True, the shotgun's recoil would blow it to bits, but you just snap it back together...
...the new name for bravery is "stupidity". Please update your records accordingly.
Thanks. It's from the idiotic ATMs in NYC. I think it sucks, too. I'll change it some day.
So if the robot finds an Al-Qaeda member, does it say "These are not the droids you are looking for"?
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
there are photos of a bomb robot dragging a palestinian by his legs down the road.
i call that war, and i call it evil.
They showed one of these robots on the TV news. It seemed to be pretty noisy. My first thought was that the Al Qaeda bad guys would be able to hear the robot sneaking up from several hundred yards away.
Not quite. Combat robots were first used in World War 2, on the Eastern front - the "Goliath" anti-tank weapon. The Germans used a remote control (wire guided) tank-buster robot which was, essentially, an armoured box with tracks and a bucketload of explosives. It was about 1.5m in length and about one half metre in height.
The idea was that it be guided against Russian tanks then detonated. Although many hundreds were produced, it was not very successful, and the engineers could be found by soviet infantry who simply followed the cable trailing from the back of the machine.