Slashdot Mirror
Army Looks at Robotic Dogs
mr. squishie writes "Someone important must have gotten an Aibo...According to Wired news, the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command has just awarded a $2.5 million contract to build a prototype of a large robot dog that would follow soldiers into battle and carry food, ammunition, and medical supplies. This is apparently part of a larger movement by various branches of the military investigating the uses of robots based on various types of wildlife, ranging from engine-repairing robot elephant trunks and mine-destroying robot lobsters to the cliched robot-fly-spy-on-the-wall trick. I wonder if they're looking into giant robot anteaters as an alternative to costly bunker-buster bombs?"
Work on robot soldiers, and save yourself all of the hassle of killing people at all. That would be a lot more fun to watch on CNN anyway.
Pretending to protect national security, provide the troops with better gear to fight terrorism, and other great headlines, our government is spending more of your money on projects that will go way over budget and provide little of the original promises.
Unfortunately, this is how our federal government always works. We've lost our capitalist direction in the last 140 years, and are now thoroughly mercantilist. Promises are made, but in reality those promises only lead to friends of the government getting a big wad of cash -- and when they over extend the budget, they just ask for more.
Sure, $3 million doesn't sound like a lot, but when has government ever provided anything at or under budget?
I'm disgusted that the average citizen allows this. There is really no reason to allow more and more of our hard earned income to go into the pockets of those friendly with the powers-that-be. Both the Democrats and Republicans have lied and lied, and neither is going to help us stabilize the economy and put more money in your pocket without increasing the costs to others.
My exact thought. Either someone in DoD needs some training in what animal does what job, or they think that there's PR points to be gained by calling it a 'dog'. If that's the objective, they may as well call it a 'robot manatee' and really score some environmentalist points.
How about the sections of Snow Crash told from the point of view of the robotic guard dog.
Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
At Sunderland, we're working on a 'robotic sheepdog' to help find victims in building collapses or similar disasters. This would be able to track its controller acoustically and use similar technology to localize and track sound streams of interest.
I've always thought that legged vehicles where an obvious solution to all-terrain travel and transport. Rubber tires become increasingly inefficient at the terrain becomes rougher (absorbing energy in all the deflections from rocks, etc.). And walkers can go where no wheeled vehicle can pass. The problem has always been designing legged motion systems that have the fluidity of biological walkers (the jerky move-stop-move motion of oldstyle robots is too slow and inefficient). But with faster embedded processors and sensors, true fluid walking and running are possible.
I wonder if this presages the return of true calvary -- robotic-horse mounted soliders.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Take that, Osama!
I for one would love to ride a giant metal dog to work every day. And at 50 pounds per squad thats 400 pounds capacity at least.
Then you could paint it up like a Warg Beast from LoTR.
Last one in jail is a fascist.
I couldn't agree more, but I believe the reason is animal cruelty. People are drafted rarely, but only after they have the priveledge of voting. The rest of the armed forces are all volunteers. Dogs are neither capable of voting or of volunteering, so someone would raise a fuss about it.
Of course, war is war. People die, and yes, animals die too I'm sure. Back when wars were fought on horseback, it wasn't like the movies -- the horses DID get injured and killed.
no comment
RoboFrog v1.0, which will be followed closely by RoboRedneck v1.0 (steel and aluminum telescopic gig accessory standard on the "dee-lux" model!) Also, you won't have to worry about this (although fabricated anyway) happening, as the Kevlar waders accessory are already available for ordering.
This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
Dogs die. Their handlers have trained with them for months or years. Losing a dog is *very* hard on the handler. Robots would not be so hard to lose.
That is not thrue. if the robotics dog is to be really usefull it must have some form of intelligence and must be able to learn from t's environment (like the Sony AIBO).
Some studies showed that people owning an AIBO have the same emotional attachement to the robot than people have with pets.
Also the fact that the handlers is emotionaly attached to its dog is beneficial in the same way that soldier in the same unit will become (encouraged by their training) attached (like a familly or friend) to other in the same unit. This give a better team dynamics as each members will look out for each other.
Reminds me of Zhuge Liang's wooden oxen (back in the 3rd century AD - though now people think looking at the plans he left behind it might just have described the invention of the wheelbarrow rather than an actual mechanical beast)! From Romance of the Three Kingdoms:
"I have had a scheme ready for a long time. The timber that I collected and bought in the River Lands was for the construction of wooden transport animals to convey grain. It will be very advantageous, as they will require neither food nor water and they can keep on the move day and night without resting...They are being made now after my plans, but they are not yet ready. Here I have the sketches for these mechanical oxen and horses, with all their dimensions written out in full. You may see the details."
Zhuge Liang then produced a paper, and all the generals crowded round to look at it. They were all greatly astonished and lauded, "The Prime Minister is superhuman!"
A few days later the new mechanical animals were complete and began work. They were quite life-like and went over the hills in any desired direction. The whole army saw them with delight. They were but in charge of Right General Gao Xiang and a thousand soldiers to guide them. They kept going constantly between Saber Pass and the front carrying grain for the use of the soldiers.
Along the Saber Pass mountain roads
The running horses bore their loads,
And through Xie Valley's narrow way
The wooden oxen paced each day.
O generals, use these means today,
And transport troubles take away.
Where asked where the idea came from he replied:
"The world is filled with things of man's making. I have long observed vehicles throughout the land, and considered the principle by which beasts of burden walk, and thus invented this..."
The story also comes with a case of military espionage as the enemy Sima Yi captures some of them and tries to copy the design.
You mean the fellow who turned down person the year from Time so that it could go to the "American Soldier"?
If it's any consolation, had they offered it to me I would've turned it down too... Since in addition I wasn't responsible for the deaths of 9,000 innocent civilians in Iraq, perhaps Donald Rumsfeld can start cleaning my jockstrap with his tongue. What a dumb way to judge someone's worth - "oo, this guy made a public gesture that made him look noble, therefore he must be a wonderful person".
In case you hadn't guessed I'm British, which means that when it comes to politics, the more authority a person has, the less I respect them. Hence, the monkey jokes. It's all quite straightforward.
<looks at watch> Blimey! Am I that off-topic already? Quick! To the troll-feeding-mobile!
These sigs are more interesting tha
Does anyone have any info on the development progress of electromagnetic pulse weapons (nuclear or otherwise)? Goldeneye-type stuff? It would seem something like this could turn a battalion of robot soldiers or field of robotic support dogs into a pile of titanium scrap.
Hrmm. A little googling revealed this rather thorough article in the Crypt Newsletter that seems to indicate that any claims these weapons are viable is hogwash.
So bring on the robots! Woo-hoo!