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Linux Powers Military UGV
An anonymous reader writes "Linux powers a new autonomous unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that learns routes by following along behind foot-soldiers, after which it can retrace the route solo, avoiding obstacles. iRobot's "R-Gator" UGV is based on John Deere's 658cc, diesel-powered M-Gator military utility vehicle platform, with control, navigation, and object-avoidance systems based on BlueCat Linux from LynuxWorks. I wonder how Linux idealists feel about their cute little OS being deployed in machinery of war?"
Don't worry, the goov't will be fair and release the source for it guys!
:)
And this new happens on the same day Honda made a self-driven car! Today is just full of coincidences.
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No altered code must be given unless binaries are also given.
Soma: because a gramme is better than a damn.
As long as the military did not distribute their code externally then they would not have to give anything back. They may or may not choose to give something back at their own discretion.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
My guess would be: pride. That, and curiousity over anything GPL'd that the military had to give back.
Why would they give anything back? Are they going to re-distribute it?
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Any non-defense related sourcecode written by the government can be obtained by any citizen, although you may have to fill out paper work to get it. Alot of agencies just give it away though, NASA being a big supporter of that (I even believe they have some software for shuttle control available for download), but the department of defense also releases a ton of source code (quite a bit of it though you do need to sign a form and fax it, its not bad, I've done it). The NSA releases things like SELinux, but there is a lot more then just what I'm listing. I mean literally tons of stuff. If you're a citizen of the states it might be worth checking out.
Regards,
Steve
First off. This ATV/Golf cart thing isn't going to be killing anyone unless it runs them over....probably several times considering it's size. There isn't a single piece of weaponry, automated or otherwise aboard this thing. Though Marines will probably figure out a way to attach a manned M240 to one, but if the shooting starts, it's probably going to be taken off autopilot. At least I would hope.
In any event the "practical" uses of this thing aren't practical at all! I mean, it's cool and all, but there is no way in hell the military is going to let these things roam around Iraq unmanned. They will never leave eyesight.
Consider my deployment in Iraq. My Marine Reserve unit built a 100 mile temporary fuel supply line from Kuwait up into southern central Iraq. Every few miles along this pipeline at "booster" stations a fire team of Marines were stationed to man the pumps. Every day a manned convoy would leave the central logistical support area and resupply the troops along the line with food, water, mail, ammo, etc.
Here's what would happen if the Military let this thing re-supply the troops autonomously.
1.) By the 3rd out of 17 booster stations all the good MRE's would be rat-fucked out of the boxes.
2.) By the 4th booster, all MRE's would be gone and somone would have pissed in the remaining water.
3.) The next day, when the thing hadn't come home and booster stations 6 through 17 called in wondering where their water was, a convoy would find it between booster station 5 & 6 with no engine, no wheels, and no usable sheetmetal left.
4.) The bedouins across the way would have an oxcart with brand new wheels a new engine on their generator and a new green metal patch on the roof of their tent.
So, it's really not unmanned. It's only a toy that Marines are going to be responsible to look after, take care of, and never let out of their sight. I suppose it could be useful to carry things while you are on a patrol, but that's what your pack is for anyway.
Be Safe! Sleep with a Marine. Semper Fi!
Which I can't resist:
;-)
" I wonder how Linux idealists feel about their cute little OS being deployed in machinery of war?""
Linux user not necessarily an idealist, though Debian folks exist
cute little OS - well depending where it is used Linux can be neat and tiny or huge and scary, but cute little it is certainly not, I wonder if article submitter is perhaps BSD user as some of them feel so superior that they need to criticise other OSses but they are so clever that you don't notice it immediately.
It is like Finnish rules of "vittuilu" (irritating, flamebaiting, trolling another person) it is best when it takes the victim week or two before he/she suspects that he/she indeed is victim of "vittuilu" That line is done poorly as it irritates directly.
Better phrase could have been "Yo Linux Fans Now You Are Military Approved Isn't It Nice" or "What do you think of the choice of Linux in military system, real flower power ?" (of course that real flower power part should be linked to that graffiti ad campaign"
A couple of interesting notes:
1) There is an open source initiative to share code between government contractors. I don't recall the name, it hadn't really taken off when I was doing contract work.
2) The robot may run Linux, but that doesn't mean that any of its sensitive code is GPL'd. They might just be using the OS.
3) iRobot is Rodney Brook's company. Rodney Brooks is the director of the computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory at MIT. A good deal of what this robot does may or may not be found in tech from that lab, most of which is probably published in publicly available academic journals. Even if this specific robots software is not, Linux enthusiasts can find all kinds of papers on robotics work and implement it in Linux. Want a start? I've done some research on the topic in the past, was a member of a DARPA Grand Challenge Team, and am looking for future research in the area. I can give you a stack of papers to get you started.
Yea, I'll take that stance. We knew about turbines for aviation since around the first century CE. The patent for a stationary turbine was granted to John Barber in England in 1791. The earliest attempts at jet engines were hybrid designs in which an external power source supplied the compression. Then the first gas turbine to successfully run self-sustaining was built in 1903 by Norwegian engineer Aegidius Elling. The first patents for jet propulsion were issued in 1917.
All this work took place and it was not really worked on for aviation until Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain worked on it for military applications. We knew about it for nearly one thousand years and it there was practical metallurgy from the 1920s on, no civilian projects were undertaken, only military. The Second World War and then the Cold War accelerated development, so yea military spending contributed the initial push and alot of the additional R&D for engines.
The United States understood a need for a large scale highway network as early as 1919, however it wasn't funded and built until the strategic military need for it was understood.
Private enterprise is for the most part, very conservative about new technologies. The development of larger ships during the Age of Sail didn't come about because of trade, but because of military applications. The Panama Canal was a pipe dream until the United States understood the strategic need to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific during the Spanish American War when the USS Oregon went from Cuba to Manilia via the Horn, after that we literally moved mountains to get a canal done. Likewise the Suez came about because the British needed a short cut to India.
Good point. This got me to thinking, and my best memories of the subject kept telling me that this was still true. Let's see.
According to NASA's web site, the crew for Expedition 12 consists of:
William McArthur, Commander (retired US Army Colonel)
Valery Tokarev, Flight Engineer 1 and Soyuz Commander (Russian Air Force Colonel)
How about STS-121?
Steve Lindsey, Commander (US Air Force Colonel)
Mark Kelly, Pilot (US Navy Commander)
Mike Fossum, Mission Specialist (US Air Force Reserves Colonel)
Lisa Nowak, Mission Specialist (US Navy Commander)
Stephanie Wilson, Mission Specialist (NASA)
Piers Sellers, Mission Specialist (NASA)
Thomas Reiter, Mission Specialist (some military aircraft background, otherwise affiliated with the European Space Agency)
STS-115?
Brent Jett, Commander (US Navy Captain)
Chris Ferguson, Pilot (US Navy Captain)
Joe Tanner, Mission Specialist (NASA)
Dan Burbank, Mission Specialist (US Coast Guard Commander (and remember, USCG is military))
Steve MacLean, Mission Specialist (Canadian Space Agency)
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Mission Specialist (US Navy Commander)
I'd say that firms up a military/NASA connection.
The rugged PDA in the photo is a Recon device from Tripod Data (www.tdsway.com). I work there, and occasionally work on that product. Anyhow the picture in the article of the device is actually running PocketPC2003, not Linux. I guess that they are just using the Recon as a user interface & have a more powerful Linux computer stashed somewhere else. Linux has been ported to the Recon though.
Damnit - I wanted my nick to be "WouldIPutMYRealNameOnSlashdot"
The Indus Valley was seized by force by Aryan tribes, but the culture of those people did survive. A blend of Indus Valley philosophy with contemporary Aryan religious thought was put forward by a renegade prince who became a monk, by the name of Shakyamuni, a few centuries later. (The surviving people of the Indus Valley were slaves at that point and their culture was practiced in secret, where it was known at all.) If you include the resulting practice as part of the lifespan of the culture, then there is a simple answer to your question. In every Buddhist temple and in every Buddhist-based culture. That's not a bad record for such an old society that suffered such destruction. The Picts, the Caledonians, the Etruscans and the ancient Cretans didn't fare so well.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)