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Carnegie Mellon Gets $14.4M to Build Robo-Tank

Posted by Zonk on from the watch-robo-cop-for-cues-on-what-not-to-do dept.

coondoggie passed us a NetworkWorld article, this one discussing new developments in the state of robotic warfare. Carnegie Melon is now hard at work on a tank set to join its brother, the already much-discussed Unmanned Areal Vehicle, on the modern battlefield "Ultimately unmanned ground vehicles would be outfitted with anti-tank or anti-aircraft missiles and anti-personnel weapons to make them lethal. Part of the new award budget is also slated to help the university prove that autonomous ground vehicles are feasible in future combat situations."

3 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I For One Welcome... by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    A student protest is scheduled for May 1st, when the prototype is expected to be ready for it's first trial. Further protests will be scheduled as development progresses.

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. Predecessor Crusher is why we got this money by jkua · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The reason CMU got this funding is primarily due to the fact that we built Crusher (I'm a grad student at the Robotics Institute), for which some of this funding is directed to upgrade. Crusher is, hands-down, the biggest beast of a robot I've ever seen. It's a six wheeled, 6.5 ton, autonomous vehicle - this thing can drive up 4 foot (1.2 meter) steps, has 30 inches (76 cm) of suspension travel, and can carry 8000 lbs of payload. There isn't much that this thing can't handle.

    If you have never seen Crusher in action, you've got to see it to believe it. There's a bunch of videos here: http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/projects/crusher/videos/index.htm.

    The quote in the original post is a little misleading - I don't really think NREC is going to be working on mounting weapons on the new vehicle. Primarily they're continuing development on autonomous mobility - can it properly plan and quickly execute a good route to get from point A to point B over rough terrain. Check out the CMU press release for a little more detail on the grant.

  3. Morality by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do you decide when it's good to place better weapons in your President's hands vs. when it's not good?

    If only the U.S. had several, distinct militaries:
    a) the Department of Defense (only functions in or near U.S. borders)
    b) the Department of Securing Cheap Oil
    c) the Department of Get Them Before They Get Us.
    d) the Department of Team America, World Police.

    Unfortunately, when researchers take DoD money, or soldiers enlist, they have no choice but to support all of a - d. Painful dilemma.