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Battle Roomba Tractor

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the is-this-anime dept.

jazzstep writes "This article on MSNBC introduces an interesting new duo on the robotics front. iRobot and John Deere have teamed up to create a new battle-ready robot for the Pentagon."

7 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. I don't get it.. by ID000001 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why does it takes so much money to make a remote control car? Don't we have those for kids like ages ago for less then $100? Scales it up, still doesn't justify the high price.

    1. Re:I don't get it.. by hansiboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I assume the money goes mostly to the reserarch of the autonomus part...

      the remote part isent particulatly expensive and doable with off the shelf RC gear and random junk + an old car as demonstrated in the rather bad quality clip on this page... http://jdfab.com/dp2/rccar.htm

    2. Re:I don't get it.. by Ironsides · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why does it takes so much money to make a remote control car? Don't we have those for kids like ages ago for less then $100? Scales it up, still doesn't justify the high price.

      First off, because a plastic toy that runs on batteries and an electic motor costs a whole lot less than something made of steel and a gas/diesel engine. Second, this thing can drive itself (computers, promamming costs). It probably has bullet proof armor, EM hardening around the electronics and a whole host of other things for the military version.

      Also, we are talking something that will sell maybe 500 in a year if they are lucky and more than liekly 500 period. Mass production rules don't apply unless you are talking at least 10,000 or 100,000 products in a manufacturing run. So the $250,000 is justified.

      --
      Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
  2. Forgeting something... by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Asimov will twist and turn in his grave, what about the Laws of Robotics?!

    BattleBot and Robot.. they don't mix!

    --
    Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
  3. Heh by mfh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Reminds me of a bad film I once saw. Short Circuit had the cuteness that iRobots have... with John Deere traction! Maybe it'll evolve this way?

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  4. Fly before you can walk? by TigrOoOo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm surprised the military hasn't done this before. We already have drone planes that fly via remote. Granted, they have very little AI and only perform one task (reconaissance), but I would have thought that the military would have started off with a land robot/roomba/automated car. I can certainly see more uses for one, like if troops are pinned down in a dangerous environment, etc.

  5. Re:Great for them by JanneM · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When I need a navigation system I will use GPS as there is no choice.

    When I fly, I can select what plane I go on; again, little choice.

    Cars: actually, most car companies are not in the business of weapon systems.

    Office furniture and so on: again, they aren't creating weapon systems or weapon platforms.

    When I have no choice, I have no choice. Often, however, I do - as in this case. At that point I take my right to use my money as I see fit. That would include not using it for products from companies that are active in developing weapon systems or platforms. I see that as a pretty big (though not all-encompassing) misfeature of their products and I act accordingly. It's called capitalism; you may have heard of it?

    --
    Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.