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Robot Mule Put Out To Pasture By Marine Corps (nbcnews.com)
An anonymous reader sends word that the Marines have decided that Boston Dynamics' robotic pack mules are too noisy to use. NBC reports: The massive robotic mule developed by Alphabet-owned Boston Dynamics won't see combat with U.S. Marines. LS3 (Legged Squad Support Systems) was meant to carry cargo for weary soldiers in the field. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the robot was capable of walking with 400 pounds of equipment on its back. LS3 could run for 24 hours straight on a 20-mile mission across rough terrain. No controller was needed; it took visual and verbal cues from soldiers to find its way. So why doesn't the Marine Corps want to use it? The robot's gas-powered engine isn't exactly the stealthiest piece of technology.
It's good to know that $30 million dollars is only good to imitate Santa's reindeer.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Maybe stealth should be reconsidered when applied to robotics. Other applications should be considered. For example, imagine 230 of these robots, each as noisy as a lawnmower and as terrifying as war itself, charging over a hillside in bevis and butthead masks. And as a peacekeeping force they would be unsurpassed! either keep the peace, or we send these things back around christmas decked in flashing lights and dressed as bea arthur.
Good people go to bed earlier.
damn thing kept getting spooked by lightning storms and running off with all my Smithore
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
So a deaf horse. Sheesh. I gotta do all the thinkin' round here?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
So you teach the horse sign language....