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Robots Guarding US Nuclear Stockpiles In Nevada
kkleiner writes "The US National Nuclear Security Administration recently announced that it has started using autonomous robot vehicles to patrol the vast desert surrounding its Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The 1360+ square miles of territory is home to millions of tons of low grade nuclear waste, as well as Cold War Era nuclear weapons, and cutting edge nuclear testing research. Guarding those precious nuclear materials is the Mobile Detection Assessment Response System (MDARS) robot, which is essentially a camera on a mini-Hummer. The MDARS can roam and scout the desert on its own, alerting a remote operator when it encounters something that shouldn't be there."
"...alerting a remote operator when it encounters something that shouldn't be there."
People
Large Animals
Vehicles
John Connor
Other Robots
I'm more worried about operators trusting hackable equipment to give them good data. What is it using? thermal? movement? shapes? colors? Whatever it is a robot's ability to "see" as in detect patterns in what it's looking at is far, far less advanced than what the human brain can detect. I dearly hope these cameras are being monitored on a 1 person/1 camera basis.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
I was on a tour of the Nevada test site a few months back and didn't see any robots running around, I guess they weren't operating at that point. It's a pretty interesting place to see if you ever get the chance, and so big that I can understand why they want robots patrolling 24/7.
And the tour guide claimed that years ago a visitor was accidentally left behind in a portapotty near one of the craters, so at least if it happens again they'll be able to flag down a passing robot. Assuming it doesn't go all Terminator on their ass.
This seems like an excellent use of robotic patrol vehicles. Driving around on patrol in that desert is a tedious assignment and the chance that someone might actually show up out there to steal old nuclear waste is pretty low. If the robotic vehicle detects anything unusual there is plenty of time to get people (or the next generation of vehicular robot?) out to the site to investigate further and/or stop the perps.
"We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
(When I first saw a picture of the thing, I thought it was an asset from Fallout:New Vegas. It's a Robobrain come to life... awesome! :)
These things could actually have civilian applications. Scatter a bunch over Death Valley or other remote areas, and partner 'em with a high-altitude drone overlooking the area for stranded motorists or backcountry hikers, and send an autonomous mount with a few gallons of water after 'em after a few hours of immobility. It'll have pretty decent odds of getting there in time to help, and the remote operator can then talk with the hiker/motorist to determine what sort of human intervention (if any) is necessary.
The Kärcher Robot Cleaner has a loading station that sucks the dirt out of the robot, but it's more than double the price.
http://www.robot-magic.co.uk/acatalog/KarcherRobocleaner.html
How about... Mobile Unmanned Robotic Detection Assessment Response System (MURDARS)?
The Kärcher Robot Cleaner has a loading station that sucks the dirt out of the robot, but it's more than double the price.
Umlauts are an expensive upgrade. I bet the Röömbä would be like eight times as expensive.
Tedious, dangerous, time-consuming tasks should be done by robots.
My wife says the same thing. But I keep telling her, steel and ceramic vaginas just don't do it for me.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.