Inside the DARPA-esque Singapore Military Bot Contest

mattnyc99 writes "Earlier this summer we followed a war robot contest in England. But now, after the Russian onslaught in Georgia, this weekend's TechX Challenge in Singapore takes on a bigger meaning: can small countries keep up with military superpowers by upmodding existing robots for their own needs and then arming them? Researchers in the Far East seem to be struggling with their A.I. research right now, but this could just be the beginning of the 'little guys' fighting back. From the article: 'Chan says the agency wants to use more locally developed robots to help in homeland security and counterterrorist operations. The DSTA's goal is to improve robotic artificial intelligence so it can build machines to perform dangerous tasks — reconnaissance, surveillance and the handling of hazardous materials — that American robots already can. ... Back at Nanyang Technological University, Michael Lau acknowledges the urgency of the research but says the AI for urban warfare just isn't ready. "We don't really believe fully autonomous robots are possible yet," says the Evolution team supervisor. "How does a robot differentiate between friend and foe?"'" We've discussed similar projects from DARPA in the past. Reader coondoggie notes that enthusiasts will be able to participate in the lighter side of robot warfare next month in Texas.

Comments

Re:In Other DARPA Words ...

[monxrtr]

Actually, the Georgians were using robots- they were using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for reconnaissance. They did lose at least one to the Russians, but UAVS are inexpensive and importantly, the loss of the UAV does not result in the loss of the trained personnel that operate it. The Russians, on the other hand, didn't have any UAVs, and instead were using Tu-22 Backfire bombers for reconnaissance, which resulted in one of the planes being taken down by Georgian air defense.

And they lost zero man hours, too? Are you Hereby declaring "intellectual property rights" on that bottle rocket that was just launched, and recovered by the enemy?

Who's the Fucking Iron Eagle, here? Sir, Doug Masters, Bitch Lieutenant, Sire.

It's obvious they both want to touch (how do you say from russian to german to american "touch my Wienerschnitzel.com") base.

Ooooh $35 "million". What was that, like the original FDIC $100,000 insurance limit, pre-inflation?

Keep in mind that training a pilot for a fighter or attack aircraft takes millions of dollars and years of time, so they are not easy to replace; and their capture creates all sorts of political headaches.

Tell that to "The British Versus the Zulus,", coming to a "i'm wearing red and you can't see me" theater near you. Are you saying mom and pop free market flight schools are financed by the church of scientology? How many bulls shall we sacrifice in compromise?

The Remote Control sends out little magic people to change the channel, and the inventors must therefore be forthwith, executed. :P

One man suitably motivated by nationalism or religion, and willing to risk/sacrifice his life to take out his target, can take out millions of dollars worth of high-tech gadgetry, as we've seen in Iraq and Vietnam.

Fuck that shit. Give me Liberty, or give Them Death. El correction, Senor.

One man suitably motivated by nationalism or religion, and willing to risk/sacrifice his life to take out his target, can take out millions of dollars worth of high-tech gadgetry, as we've seen in Iraq and Vietnam.

So you are saying Vietnam would beat Iran and Iraq in a war?