Slashdot Mirror
Robots for Air Force Protection
Roland Piquepaille writes "During a demonstration held in San Antonio on August 6, twelve robots intended to protect bases and people were shown to Air Force security directors and to 230 other security professionals. In "Robots display force-protection prowess," Air Force Link tells us the story. "Demonstrations included one robot that crawled up walls and across ceilings, another that clambered over rocks with six rotating legs and a third that wriggled like a snake through a pipe." This summary contains more details, including photos of the "Wall Crawler" climbing a wall and of Hexapod, a robot with six rotating legs walking over a pile of rocks."
These new gadgets are all well and good, just don't let them be outside during a thunder storm.
NMG
Now we just need to get the rabbit/human hybrid to be for Air Force Protection. Then the aliens will have to give in!
So when do the bolts of lightning cause the robots to become adorible artificially intelligent friendly meddling do gooders?
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
But I had to get rid of it, kept shitting on guests.
paintball
I saw a documentary on this subject back in the '80s. As I recall, the all-terrain robots were quite impressive, but subject to major, non-reversable programming glitches when subjected to large electro-magnetic fields (such as lightning strikes).
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Cool stuff, but I think these would be much more intimidating to potential attackers (check out the videos). :)
Did you know you can fertilize your lawn with used motor oil?
.. what happens when the bad guys get hold of one?
Stop the brainwash
Watch your backs, folks!
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Operator: Main screen turn on.
Captain: It's You!!
Cats: How are you gentlemen!!
Cats: All your base are belong to us.
Cats: You are on the way to destruction.
Captain: You'll have to get through my team of Aibos first!!!
They eat old peoples' medicine for fuel. As if the prescription drug problem wasn't bad enough...
IAALS.
On August 6th, 2003 at Lackland AFB, SkyNet became self aware.
On October 7th, 2003 they elected a Terminator to lead them.
October 8th, 2003. Judgement day.
We must build and maintain those robots.
Too bad Battlebots got cancelled.
These guys could have been contenders.
I for one welcome our new robot masters.
Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
...you better tell arnold to put aside the elections campaign in California, because this is already starting to look like Skynet...
Robots to defend our military bases, what could possibly go wrong...
These robots look rather cool, but it seems to me that it would be easy to interrupt the radio transmitter controlling these robots. Isn't there a better way to control them (either automate them, or something?)
My Sig Beat up your Honor Roll Sig
Ben Jabituya: I am standing here beside myself.
The story left out "RoboSlinky (TM)", which patrols stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a "slinkety" sound. It debuted this Spring.
So, if someone were to fight one of the robots and break it, would it be a DMCA violation as well as a terrorist act?
SAILING MISHAP
This is really scary. They're just begging Skynet to take over! Actually, methinks the military boys saw too many Terminator movies...
More seriously, if the military becomes heavily dependant on this kind of thing, in the near future, I can envisage being an unlicensed ter^H^H^H hacker becoming a crime punishible by an indefinite term in Guantanamo Bay.
/obligatory everything is scary post.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
Funny to be reading that while I'm watching, "The Wrong Trousers" right now. (Think of the scene where the evil penguin is forcing Wallace to steal the diamond by walking across the ceiling).
The robots were developed for several purposes, including inspections hazardous areas, and bomb detection/disposal. However, they have more uses, because of their mobility they can be used to find victims trapped in narrow areas where a human or rescue dog might not be able to get at. Plus, robots don't complain about their job.
One of the articles linked talked about people currently buying these things:
People have bought it just the way it is for things like inspecting the fuselage of an aircraft," Wiedeman said.
We are one step closer to having R2D2! I wonder if the robots can crawl around while the plane is in flight? (Probably not, based on the specs given). Anyway, I think this is pretty interesting. Using these on a space shuttle might not be a bad idea, ie- crawling around outside and inspecting things before take off. And later- making external in-flight repairs...
I want Videos! Pictures do nothing for me. In this age of palm sized video cameras and streaming porn, you would think I could get at least a lo-res video of some robots.
Perhaps one day we can have a single robot to perform the varied functions mentioned above.
Having your base protected by robots can lead to the possible problem of one thunderstorm shutting down base security. Until major improvements in AI are made, I would not trust robots to perform such a vital function.
But does this situation with military and amateur inventors battlebots remind anyone else of the early days of aviation?
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Did anyone else expect the AIR FORCE to have robots that fly ? I mean, really ...
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
don't kill people, ...oh wait. They do.
Never mind.
The hexapod robot is very likely the one commonly
called RHex. It was basically designed after a
cockroach. You can find a lot more videos of it
on the net. Its performance is truly impressive.
And the best thing: The software for RHex is hosted
on sourceforge!
Hey, Baby, wanna go kill all the humans?
Sarge: Soldier, we've gotten orders to attack. Prepare battlefleet 5 and get ready to strike on my signal.
Soldier: Sarge, we gotta problem...
Sarge: "Problem", soldier? Whatd'ya mean "we gotta problem"?
Soldier: the bots, Sarge. They're all upgrading. Gonna take at least an hour, then we have to test them all again. Last virus was a bitch, they were all singing "My Way" a capella together...
Sarge: yeah, I heard. Those slimy bastards... it was terrible...
Soldier: anyhow, this new patch is gonna block all those music viruses.
Sarge: OK, do what you have to. But what about the enemy?
Soldier: Oh, no problem. We hit them with TZ/21, it's the virus that makes their 'bots quote random Nietsche, with Bob Hope delivery...
Sarge: poor bastards... poor bastards...
Soldier: yeah, war sucks. So, game of Doom/6?
Sarge: yeah, why not... (don VR helmets, zapping noises)
Ceci n'est pas une signature
now. just how the hell does that thing climb the walls?
assuming wallclimbing doesn't require being bit by a radioactive spider, it would be kinda kool to make a couple of those and let them climb around at random at home. if nothing else than to entertain the cat.
besides, couldn't you build a human wall-climber using the same principle?
does this tech scale (sorry) well?
f64 : climbing walls, lacking coffee
If you can't figure it out from the picture, the idea is that rather than the traditional (biologically inspired) multi-jointed, multi-DOF leg design, a curved and somewhat flexible leg is just mounted directly to the motor shaft, which spins it like a wheel. The result is a robot that can navigate rough terrain with the same competence as its biologically inspired counterpart, but using much simpler control software and, more significantly, requiring much less mechanical complexity, which makes for a much more robust design. Very cool stuff.
Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
If this thing uses a louvered fan for suction how does it transition from the wall to the ceiling?
If you can read this sig - the bitch fell off.
DO NOT point a gun at them when demonstrating their effectiveness to a large group of senior executives.
Shop smart, Shop S-Mart.
I prefer this one :
Bender: "I came here with a simple dream, a dream of killing all humans."
And here are the links for RHex: /. )
( easy to remember, easy to
RHex project home
RHex software on sourceforge
Shouldn't a robot be described as some mechanical device that's autonomous or otherwise self-guided?
These "robots" all seem to be remote-controlled, making them expensive RC toys you'll find in 5 years at Radio Scrap.
Actually, the majority of people struck by lightning directly survive. Typically the lightning bolt leaves a burn around the size of your fist at the entry/exit points, although it can cause a heart attack/seizure. In fact, "a full 80% of people that are hit by lightning recover", according to Toronto Hiking (here http://www.torontohiking.com/Tutorials/lightning/l ightning.html).
"Stumble before you crawl"
No true. I've got a bolt of lightning in my living room and I've managed to get Linux to run on it. You can install Linux on *anything*
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
Now imagine preparing for the "invading force" and 10,000 of these come marching into town. You shoot them, they keep coming forward, you throw bombs at them and their legs fall off, but they still keep coming after you. They could even be programed to be non-leathal attackers that just grab you and don't let go and bring you back to jail. If fuel cells actually happen this kind of stuff is not that far off.
KAWADA INSUTRIES
Yes, a wall walker may have more praticle uses, but imagine the fear factor of an army of these things coming into town with machine guns!
more crazy stuff here
http://www.ohlssonvox.com
Ah, to my great regret, I did not miss Phantom Menace. Thankfully, as you have shown, I have forgotten parts of it.
I fear that the damnable tongue will be the last thing that "meesa" will forget, however.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
So, If someone is jamming the control frequency you just tell the real live human sky cops who have authority to use lethal force to wake up and go drive the perimeter road looking for someone jumping the fence. Plus if they are using even the 1980's SINCGARS radio technology the signal will be hard to jam and the jamming will be easy to triangulate back to a source. They are more likely to be using one of the newer frequency agile radio technologies that are even more resistant to jamming. They probably have provision for connecting a landline data link to robots that are 'standing watch' and only move through a limited area mitigating the man in the middle attack vulnerability. The robots that climb on walls and ceilings look like they are intended for use to scout an interior area for intruders. They may be semi-autonomous and only transmit back the base station if they spot something. Given the state of machine object recognition there will have to be an operator evaluating the senor data from this type of stuff for a long time to come.
Military guy: Will he kill me if I stop?
Ben: Who is to say?
Military guy: Will he kill me if I don't stop?
Ben: Again I am shrugging.
Number 5: Many fragments. Some large, some small.
There was an earlier story on Slashdot about RHex, as part of the Aqua project. Videos are available on the ARL website at McGill.
I'll tell you why. Start making it easy for countries to engage in war w/o risking human lives and suddenly you've completely changed the fundamentals of why and when people are willing go to war. Combat bots should be outlawed by the Geneva convention. War sucks, but in order for it to have any legitamcy whatsoever, then lives must be at risk. If lives aren't at risk then wars become too easy to start.
Of course, maybe war will evolve in such a way that we'll just carry out computer models to figure out who wins and then send the "correct" number of losers into extermination chambers ala - what was that episode of Star Trek?
8 ^ |
People used to think that robots, not computers would be common place in the future like in Star Wars (I know it's the distant past in a galaxy far, far... anyway). A few years ago I thought we would have a more Star Trek-type future where computers are integrated into everything and robots wouldn't be so common. Now I believe that is changing. On /. I keep reading about more and more robots as well as computers. On TechTV they seem to always show something about robots, be it on TechLive or that awful Robot Wars (come on, that whole robot fighting fad is sooo two years ago). I think the reason for this change is better, cheaper technology. Anyone can waltz down to the RadioShack, among other outlets, and pick up parts for one. Building a robot 5-10 years ago would result in something along the intelligence of a RoboSweep--not really worth the effort. I think robots will have a larger role in the future than I thought--Good luck Airforce, good luck iRobot (the makers of the Roomba vacuum cleaner).
- Danny
Ya know... we got the viruses taking out computers, we got the highly specialized super-computers, and now we've got robots protecting military installations. None of that really bothered me until I realized my name was John.
"Derp de derp."
When did our definition of "robot" become "Nifty mobile vehicle with some kind of new technology" ? A robot, sort of by definition, is an autonomous machine, capable of acting and reacting on its own without human intervention. Battlebots? They're just souped-up RC cars. ASIMO? His every step is preprogrammed; if you moved the stairs a foot forward he'd trip, because ASIMO is not a robot.
These pictures clearly show humans remotely controlling them. What makes them different than remote controlled cars that you can buy at Toys-R-Us, the fact that they can crawl up walls or have six funky legs? Please, stop referring to these fancy toys as "robots" and diminishing the accomplishments of those who make real autonomous robots.
And yes, I have worked on real robots. Last year I was on the robotics team from the University of Rochester. Our robot Mabel the Mobile Table, an autonomous robotic hors d'ourvres-serving waiter, won the AAAI Robot Host competition. Robotics means artificial intelligence, at least rudimentary AI, not just some new means of locomotion.
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted