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US Army Testing Robots with Shotguns
Darren writes "The US Army is testing robots armed with shotguns. The robots are called Packbots and have already seen some action in Iraq. It also has chemical sensors that detect nuclear, biological, and chemical contaminants. Maybe I've seen a few too many bad sci-fi movies, but robots with shotguns scare me."
"The pitiful fleshy humans can have my gun when they pry it from my cold metal fingers".
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
So much for the three laws of robotics.
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
... you have twenty seconds to comply... ... rrrr ... you now have fifteen seconds to comply...
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
Thats gotta be some scary shit if you're a soldier in Iraq, imagine a robot with a shotgun walking up to you yelling "DIE EVIL INSURGENT", mistaking you for an enemy. Thats not even an honorable death, dying from a robot?
thisnukes4u.net
The robot is controlled by an integral Pentium based computer. It uses a modular payload system offering standard (USB, Ethernet) communications and networking.
I get this mental picture of some sneaky terrorist with a Sony Vaio sneaking up to one of these packbots and plugging in his cat5...
I am a viral sig. Please help me spread.
For a minute, I pictured the Army's new class of robots being "stress tested" via shotgun fire. I was really wondering if that was such a good idea... I mean, who expects a machine to stand up to a hit from a shotgun?
I know the robots in System Shock 2 certainly didn't last long.
The speed of time is one second per second.
The US Army has announced plans to hire the top Quake and UT bot creators to write the AI routines for these robots. Said an Army spokesdrone, 'We felt that it was more economical to simply modify existing code that already involved computers blasting humans with shotguns.'.
... User-friendly fire?
"kiss my shiny metal ass"
cheers,
Adolfo
Now that's just a huge fallacy.
Gore has repeatedly stated that he would have thrown the terrorists in a lock box. The key to the lock box would also be safely kept away in another lock box.
Just imagine the applications:
HUNTER'S HELPER: The lazy backwoods redneck no longer need soil his clothing or even leave the house! Simply be remotely controlling his JethroBot, he can blast away offensive and dangerous deer, squirrels, and "possums" with the flick of a switch! Sure to be a top seller at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
FOOD FETCHER: Too damned fat to get out the door and make that McDonald's run? Add the handy tray attachment (sold separately) and your shotgun-toting buddy becomes a handy way to get grub once your limbs can no longer support your weight.
PAINTBALL III - RISE OF THE MACHINES:Sick of losing to uber-good paintball players? Buy a fleet of cyborgs, swap those 12 gauges for rapid-fire paint launchers, and tell those wusses "I'll be back". Life-size inflatable Linda Hamilton doll not included.
I just had a flashback to an early Counter-strike bot. Now picture a 400-lb, shotgun-wielding robot bunny-hopping (you can't hit him), running with a knife (because it's faster!), and shooting at your legs (they do the same damage).
That sounds handy. I can't think of how many times I've found an NBC weapon and wanted to shoot it with some buckshot.
The same company that makes those cute little household vacuuming robots now has a military robot that is equipped with a pump action shotgun
So all terrorists need to do is set up one of those obstacle wire things from the accessory store, right?
(cut to scene in cave) {BAM] [BAM] "ALL YOUR CAVE ARE BELONG TO US!"
"Dammit Akbar, I thought I told you to set up the obstacle wire! Someone go take its batteries out, for god sakes."
The Pacbot weighs about 40 pounds
Okay. So does it kill terrorists by hitting them with the buckshot, or with its body that flies through the air every time it fires the gun?
And, being ankle-height, what part of the body does it aim at? Ouch...
Please help metamoderate.
It's worth quoting in full:
The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea.
They will be fought in space, 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.
The thing in the box has no place in the language-game at all; not even as a something; for the box might even be empty.
Is "collateral babies" the official terminology, or just something you came up with? It would be an awesome name for a band.
So much for the three laws of robotics.
1. A robot may not shoot a human being with a shotgun, or through inaction allow a human being to be shot with a shotgun.
"Fight the war that is not the war that Bush wished for. Vote Kerry"
Uh...the election was 4 days ago.
The Democrat party's motto is "vote early, vote often" not "vote 4 days late."
Doofus.
nuke 'em from orbit, its the only way to be sure.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/cixel
I think it also describes prom night pretty good.
It was the coward that put him in that position.
George Bush, in other words.
echo "1" > /dev/shotgun0
You have 10 seconds to comply...
You must have met a different class of fighter pilots, majority, by far, of the ones I know would have to do some SERIOUS growing up in order to act 19.
"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
So, presumably they're being tested/developed somewhere in California - so good ol' Arnie can keep an eye on em. Make sure they'll look like him eventually.
That'd be nice and neat at least....
Robotic Rednecks? Damn! More Bush voters. ducks
Table-ized A.I.
Everyone that would have offered were too busy playing with their time machines.
"Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality." -- Dalai Lama