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America's Robot Army
Popular Mechanics explores the increasing level of reliance the US military has when it comes to robotic assistance. In the last few years, robot drones have reached an all-new level of sophistication, with several models already deployed in the field. Now, the next generation of robot helpers is nearing the end of its test phase. PM offers up a preview of what we could expect to see in the field within the next five years. "The MULE (Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment) is roughly the size of a Humvee, but it has a trick worthy of monster truck rallies. Each of its six wheels is mounted on an articulated leg, allowing the robot to clamber up obstacles that other cars would simply bump against ... Barely a year old, the prototype is a product of the Army's Unmanned Ground Vehicle program, which began in 2001. It has yet to fire a single bullet or missile, or even be fitted with a weapon. Here at the test track it's loaded down with rucksacks and boxes, two squads' worth of equipment."
Sounds like a tank. And haven't retired generals criticized the DoD in the last couple of decades for developing the tank technology we wished that we had in World War II instead of concentrating on anti-guerilla strategy?
The US military wants mechs.
And in the meantime, to fight our wars, I think we should send the folks who would benefit from the wars and the arm chair generals who are really quick to send other people's kids over to fight while justifying their haste with the attitude of "well they volunteered and they knew what they were getting into."
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
I hope none of these so-called robots are simply radio-controlled devices. Anything under human control does not rate being called a robot. (When have you ever heard of a radio-controlled model airplane being called a robot?)
Fata viam invenient.
The thing designed to save US lives looks like a casket.
It seems to me that it would be easy enough to do this for consumer-grade devices shortly after the move to all-electric cars. Just have a separate motor per wheel so you don't need a complicated power train.
Toss in a fraction of the automated control that they're talking about, and you have the ultimate off-road vehicle and the ride can be as smooth as you want.
Yes. The more intelligent way is to select the acronym first, then find the words to fit.
Thinking in "James Bond" film mode for a moment, what happens IF some enemy lets off an EM pulse, what happens to your (over) reliance on technology?
Take Nobody's Word For It.
All of it to be ultimately undone by a hundred dollars worth of high explosive, some household shrapnel and a triggering device operated by a guy living a cave who MAY have spent a total of three weeks at the local militant training camp.
We are living in the age of guerilla warfare. It's no longer about the size of your Deathstar. Its about how many plucky farm kids you can convince to join the cause.
I guess there new moto could be "Army of 00000001"
GREAT THING of course if robots don't kill, only capture. If a machine kills alone, I fear my PC.
More weapons.
Good one, America. Nice to see those sessions with the shrink are working.
you had me at #!
What are the chances that someone working on this project played M.U.L.E. in the 80s?
Enjoy the music of the game here. Ah, nostalgia...
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
But what happens when one of these things goes off the reservation and kills innocents? Or a UAV collides with an airliner. Or suppose some clever hacker figures out how to take control of our drones and uses them to bomb us. Is that an act of war even though it was our weapon system?
There's a real danger in relying too much on gadget war fighting devices, even one as simple as a pack mule. It starts out as a luxury and pretty soon no squad can't operate without one. You give them capacity, they'll find something to fill it up. Over time units in the field will become more dependent on their robot pack systems.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I for one welcome our MULE overlords who are building SKYNET, and will PWND the terrorists. But where are the freakin' laser beams? OK, that should save everyone some time.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a difficult battle. - Plato
Once again, the Simpsons has an applicable quote:
Commandant: 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.
In America's army, the old is new again ! The tech to make drones has been available since more than half a century, it just took that long for US officials to realize that it could be a good idea.
Wake me up when they plan deploying autonomous vehicles. Yes, we have the tech for these also.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
...We've had this technology since the early-80's!
http://atarimule.neotechgaming.com/
For more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E.
Word.
I was a huge fan of the C64 version, and honestly, I think that better computer games are very rare - MULE was just brilliant, and far, far ahead of its time.
Need Geek Rock? Try The Franchise!
Under the cited Popular Mechanics article, commentors talk about robots and war crimes. My view: Robotic and cybernetic systems will naturally be designed to keep and report extensive video and other records of their activities. Records can help prevent the commission of crime, and can aid investigation of allegations of crime.
Benjamin Wright, Dallas, Texas, benjaminwright.us
Doesn't anyone else know that this issue started hitting stands more than a month ago?
The USA has control of the largest and second largest oil reserves in the world now.
Deleted
MAARS
Weight: 235 lb.
Speed: 7 mph
Weapons: M240B medium machine gun
Notable feature: Programmable no-fire zones to prevent fratricide.
Butch: Hurry up! We're taking heavy fire.
Andy: Hold on we're still writing our test cases.
Paul: No, Andy, that code protects soldiers on both the left and right sides. My test case only requires you to protect the left side. You're clearly gold plating.
I have no direct experience or knowledge, but I'd imagine...
think how Kent State would have been if it was a tele-presence video game.
a tele-presence robot being pelted by rocks is less likely to use deadly force to defend it's life than a frustrated, exhausted and injured human being.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
I've seen a lot of comments arguing that anything that saves the lives of our soldiers is worth it. That's a hard thing to argue against; certainly I don't wish death on any of my countrymen. And from a strategic standpoint, you'd want to have all of your options available.
But from the standpoint of what's good for the world, I don't think this is. We see the same thing over and over again as we reduce the lethality of certain acts. Now that tasers are widespread, police are using them on people that just happen to piss them off, because nobody will die and the officer won't go to prison (or at least his buddies on the force and in the DA office don't have to do anything questionable to prevent it). When anti-lock brakes were introduced, fatalities remained steady, because people with ABS in their car drive demonstrably more recklessly than people who don't.
Now we're reducing the human cost of waging war, but we're reducing it asymmetrically. With robots and cruise missiles we hardly have to risk an American life to GO to war now. When you're destroying the American economy with a war, that will annoy some people. But when you're bringing back coffins by the tankerload, you have people marching on Washington DC. Big difference. Now the US finds it much easier to justify going to war and maintaining a warlike presence, so we're going to do it more often. And people just like the innocent Iraqi civilians are going to pay, and the US is going to pay from stirring up more terrorism and anti-American sentiment, and the world is going to pay for the destruction of productive economies and vast diversion of resources from productive ends.
They should build these Terminator robots that look exactly like Arnold Schwartzenegger in his Mr. Universe days, that don't stop, ever, until their target is dead. Build ten million of these and deploy them all over the Middle East. That should solve the never ending Middle East conflict in about three days.
It really seems like they are skipping some steps. Why not first focus on remote controlled fighting vehicles? Wouldn't smaller and lighter versions of platforms like the Bradley, with crew sitting safely in a bunker far away performing the same duties, be a bit more effective at this point?
It's nice to see the technology of the Stargate program like Unmanned Ground Vehicles and standard-issue PDWs finally reaching the mainline military.
C'mon, am i the only one here who played with G.I. Joes?
Utilizing the synergization of benchmark e-solutions to pre-workaround action items!
...but they always seem to run off from my Crystite sites.
Er, what?
Stuff that matters: circuitbreakers, vacuum-cleaners coffee makers, calculators generators, matching salt+pepper shakers
I think it was quite clever of them to use an X-box controller to steer the thing remotely. It's something most of the 18 to 20-something year old grunts will be familiar with.