US Robots Win Big Down Under

Posted by timothy on Thursday November 18, 2010 @05:19PM from the but-did-the-teams-afterward-get-bombed dept.

An anonymous reader writes "US teams dominated the MAGIC 2010 autonomous robotics competition, mapping and neutralizing simulated bombs at the 250,000 sq. meter Royal Showgrounds in Adelaide, Australia. Leading the pack with a team of fourteen robots was Team Michigan, principally from the University of Michigan, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, and RASR. This contest marks the beginning of practical robots that not only think for themselves, but also actively coordinate with a human commander."

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Re:I love robots by Peeteriz · 2010-11-18 23:00 · Score: 1, Flamebait

Robots can be hacked and reprogrammed, soldiers cannot so easily.
In our current major conflicts, like Afganistan, the risk of rogue drones (which has happened) is insignificant to the huge number of cases where soldiers have turned on us - a noticeable percentage of troops, officers and demolitions experts trained by NATO forces have later went on to support the insurgents. If anything, I'd say that the drones will be more loyal in practice, simply their actions may have more PR-risk.