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Marine Corps Wants a Throwable Robot

Posted by samzenpus on from the goblin-bomb-dispenser dept.

coondoggie writes "The US Marine Corps has a request — build and rapidly deploy more 10lb-or-under robots its personnel can throw into dangerous situations that can quickly gather information without endangering Marines. The throwable robot is part of a family of robots that would range from the 10lb version to one that would act as a central controlling device and weigh close to 300lbs. Marine commanders are demanding ever lighter robots so that troops don't have to offload critical equipment from their rucksacks to accommodate them."

3 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. 10lbs...throwable? by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    how far can you heave a 10lb weight into a situation that you can't see directly in front of you? Over a wall? Perhaps. Around a corner? Perhaps. But if there is someone there and they see a 10lb robot arcing into their room / trench / side of the wall, they will:

    a. destroy it immediately
    b. know exactly where YOU are, and while you are making sense of the "data" it is supplying, you may well expect a counter-offensive move of some deadly force...

    Yet another dumb idea from a bloated military that should be pared down by 50% for the next 3 years running.

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
    1. Re:10lbs...throwable? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Mmmmm-kay. Yeah, you sound like a combat veteran who knows what he's talking about. NOT!!

      What you actually sound like, is a middle aged has-been who watches to much television and assumes that Hollywood knows combat.

      Challenge: Define "shelter" and "cover". Watch a dozen or even a gross of Hollywood productions. Watch carefully for every instance in which the concepts are accurately conveyed, and realistically used.

      BTW - you might have RTFA. It's the MARINES who want this 10-poung-or-less-robot, not the National Guard. No one who has ever worn a uniform can possibly confuse the two.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  2. better safe than sorry by r00t · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If we let the kids grow up, they become terrorists.
    Women give birth to future terrorists.