"Bear" Robot to Rescue Wounded Troops

Jim Hall writes "The US military is developing a robot with a teddy bear head to help carry injured soldiers out of combat. The "friendly appearance" of the robot is designed to put the wounded at ease. The 6ft tall Bear can cross bumpy ground without toppling thanks to a combination of gyroscopes and computer controlled motors to maintain balance. It is expected to be ready for testing within five years. 'It is also narrow enough to squeeze through doorways, but can lift 135kg (500 lbs.) with its hydraulic arms in a single smooth movement, to avoid causing pain to wounded soldiers. While the existing prototype slides its arms under its burden like a forklift, future versions will be fitted with manoeuvrable hands to gently scoop up casualties. The Bear is controlled remotely and has cameras and microphones through which an operator sees and hears. It can even tackle stairs while carrying a human-sized dummy.'"

Comments

Nobody the US military will every fight again...

[patio11]

... cares a rat's ass about what your "conventions of war" say. Its not like we're going to be fighting a country where there are more international law lawyers than generals. Heck, its going to be pretty rare from here out out that we'll be fighting countries, period. The enemy will just use the presence of a safety zone on the field for tactical advantage, as we saw in the Israeli war with Lebanon (when Hezbollah took over UN observer positions to avoid artillery fire or exploit it to propaganda advantage), the use of ambulances to smuggle explosives into Israel, yadda yadda.

Given that that is the reality of who we are fighting, I say you use the traditional method of encouraging friendly troops: put a flag on its side, a gun in its hands, and give it a visual design which leaves the enemy with the impression that if they tangle with it they will be meeting those 72 virgins earlier than they had planned. Has any soldier, shot and under suppressive fire, ever mistaken a bunch of Marines rushing to cover him for teddy bears? Probably not. Does he regret that they're not teddy bears? Probably not.