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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."
... 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...
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....
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.
yes, but they have added a fourth one:
4. Except if it looks like a terrorist.
Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
yes, what dependencies do I need to install guided-missle-system-0.98.5.i386.rpm?
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 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.
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.
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
Clearly, what is called for here is semi-autonomous robotic spiders.
-a
How to rationalize theft.
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.
..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 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 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
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.
When a Talabot dies in battle, does it get to link into 72 virgin Cray's in it's afterlife?
Table-ized A.I.
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.
...
The robots would not use the GPS in the cave, obviously. They do have other means of navigation than from satellites, you know.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
mmmmmm...... baclava.... mmmmmmmm.... I love that stuff.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
Robots don't have to do things for themselves. According to dictionary.com:
robot: 1. A mechanical device that sometimes resembles a human and is capable of performing a variety of often complex human tasks on command or by being programmed in advance.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
...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.