Next-gen killbots boast enhanced friendly fire avoidance

While it's always bittersweet to report on the latest advancements in autonomous military killbots, the one upside to Foster-Miller's most recent heavily-armed robotic platform is that it possesses enhanced safeguards to minimize incidences of friendly fire or civilian casualties. That being said, QinetiQ's SWORDS-smith is still touting the improved "lethality" of its new MAARS chassis (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), a 350-pound PackBot-type unit that, unlike its predecessor, was built from the ground up with murder in its heart. Its M240B Medium Machine Gun is more powerful than SWORDS' M249, although redesigned software and a mechanical range fan are said to bolster safety by delineating live fire zones and keeping barrels pointed away from allied positions, respectively. A final precaution precludes the bots from firing directly at their control units -- a feature that will provide little solace to the MAARS controller whose charge has just pulled a 180 after being hacked by enemy forces. For a short video of the new bot still under friendly control, keep reading after the break...

[Via Danger Room and The Raw Feed]

[matt @ Oct 8th 2007 6:01PM]

is that a usb port at the front?

does it run doom?

[Dustin Frazier @ Oct 8th 2007 6:05PM]

Nope, that is where you feed it the blood of the unclean, which is its fuel.

[remrof @ Oct 8th 2007 7:10PM]

i loled.

[newgalactic @ Oct 8th 2007 8:33PM]

I think it's safe to say that this thing "runs Doom" better then any computer has before.

[nikola @ Oct 8th 2007 6:05PM]

These things would probably kill anything alive in the "live fire" zone. Sounds like a great way to get war crimes laws updated. There is no way use of this thing wouldn't coincide with clear-cut massacre of the local population.

And didn't the alien creators of Doomsday stop when they realized their "machine" couldn't distinguish friend from foe. And he ended up killing superman. Is that what we want?

[Shaocaholica @ Oct 8th 2007 6:45PM]

What? Live fire zone? This thing isn't automated. A human still has to aim and pull the trigger. However, instead of having dust in your eyes, ringing in your ears, sweat all over, and your buddy's blood all over you and dying next to you, a human driver for this robot can much much better decisions in battle.

[Digital1 @ Oct 8th 2007 6:19PM]

I for one welcome our robotic,machine-gun wielding overlords.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Oct 8th 2007 10:34PM]

Such robots are a violation of Asmimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Although if a fourth law were to be written, it might say "A robot will defend the innocent from evil". But Isaaic Asimov was a fiction writer and like works of fiction, I suppose they should be taken lightly. Or maybe not...




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

[david @ Oct 9th 2007 12:32AM]

The insurgents who murder innocent people are not human beings so this does not violate Asmimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Oct 9th 2007 2:11AM]

@david

You are right and those animals should not be considered human, not even cavemen..

[matt @ Oct 8th 2007 6:20PM]

only john connor can save us now

[christkid7692 @ Oct 9th 2007 6:58PM]

Hey this thing can not think for its self

[enjoi @ Oct 8th 2007 6:21PM]

i only thought of one thing when i read the enhanced friendly fire avoidance. from counter-strike: TEAM KILLER.

[Stan Winstone @ Oct 8th 2007 6:22PM]

Now we know for sure one thing that not a single republican has seen the Terminator(well ok except for Arnold).

[Beamey @ Oct 8th 2007 6:36PM]

maybe he didn't see them either. If he had he wouldn't have made that cinematic abortion that is, Terminator 3

[ilh @ Oct 8th 2007 6:23PM]

Can it not aim forward then? Bit worried about it only pointing at the floor and the sky.

[Sirocco @ Oct 8th 2007 6:25PM]

Let's stick to news about cell phones and other cool stuff, OK?

[Lemmiwinks @ Oct 8th 2007 6:35PM]

La la la la....

[Matt @ Oct 8th 2007 7:38PM]

At least until they announce the new Apple iKillbot. It will be able to automatically download Flight of the Valkyries from iTunes and play it as it lays waste to enemy camps.

[Dustin Frazier @ Oct 8th 2007 6:26PM]

I wonder how long it will be before we see setups like this replacing human security guards at retailers and banks etc.

[melloncollie @ Oct 8th 2007 6:41PM]

A very, very long time.
Most security guards aren't even armed, so I don't even see how you could correlate the two.

[JAmerican @ Oct 8th 2007 6:29PM]

More wasted tax dollars to support unnecessary American-provoked violence.

[Shaocaholica @ Oct 8th 2007 6:43PM]

You're right. Training and putting soldiers with families on the ground is a lot cheaper for the US taxpayer than a disposable robot.

[Numetheus @ Oct 8th 2007 7:03PM]

Your joking right? It is far cheaper to develop and deploy remote controlled robotic kill-bots. Do you know how much it costs per marine or ranger to train? How much to keep up an individual marines medical benefit, payment of service, and funeral service if he/she dies? Not to mention the fact that a human soldiers life is not expendable. These robots are disposable! Things like this are not only cost effective to develop and deploy vs the complete upkeep of a single marine, but it is also better than sacrificing American lives.

[Shaocaholica @ Oct 8th 2007 7:08PM]

Get your sarcasm detector checked. I was obviously joking at the original statement that these things are a burden on the American taxpayer, more so than the status quo.

[Numetheus @ Oct 8th 2007 7:28PM]

I wasn't replying to you, I was replying to the original poster. I know yours was sarcasm! I was merely trying to put my point out there.

[UPeopledontknowwhatyouretalkingabout @ Oct 8th 2007 10:40PM]

The 1st generation SWORDS robot costs less than 1 soldiers insurance policy

[JAmerican @ Oct 8th 2007 11:35PM]

My whole point is that there shouldn't be war at all. I never said I would agree to putting any solider on the ground because any politician who would do so wouldn't consider the same for their children. Money should go to inter-city school education. Making it way more comparable to suburban education. Separate but equal was ruled out a long time ago but it looks like separate but unequal still exists.

[JAmerican @ Oct 8th 2007 11:37PM]

BTW when countries get fed up of our cocky super-power actions and invade, let me know how you like one of these things being used on your home.

[Kamokazi @ Oct 9th 2007 10:16AM]

@JAmerican

You're absolutely right. There shouldn't be any war. Just as soon as you convince the Islamic extremists, African warlords, and countless others to stop killing innocent people, then the organized militaries of the world can withdraw and disband without leaving a state of total anarchy after they leave. (Yes militaries...believe it or not, other militaries besides ours and the UK occupy parts of foreign countries to prevent senseless violence. And believe it or not, this happens in places other than Iraq/Afghanistan.)

Now with your regards to money spent on schools: most inner-city schools have more problems than simply needing money. Actually if you dig around, you'll find that tax income for inner-city schools is often higher than suburban/rural schools (look at the per-student income, and this does vary by region, so if you live in an area where it's the other way around, don't get in my face about it). A large part of the problem is unfortunately the children who live in the city, that come from underprivledges/broken homes with less discipline. And this of course leads to a plethora of other issues, which cannot be solved by simply throwing money at them.

So for now, I'd rather see money spent in saving lives, both American and foreign. Technology likes this puts soldiers out of harms way, but more importantly, allows them to assess a situation with a cool head, out of harms way, and not be forced to make split-second, instinctive reactions. And that leads to fewer civillian casualties.

[Justin @ Oct 8th 2007 6:36PM]

You guys gotta admit owning one of these things would be awesome...

[Lemmiwinks @ Oct 8th 2007 6:36PM]

I'm looking for Wooldoor Sockbat.

[easymac30 @ Oct 8th 2007 6:39PM]

Perfect! Now that's out, and Microsoft has staged a hostile takeover of Cyberdyne, all we have to wait for is their forthcoming launch of SkyNET (Pronounced: Vista SP2)

[nimro @ Oct 8th 2007 6:47PM]

Microsoft® Sky.net™ Framework

[barrywoods @ Oct 8th 2007 7:03PM]

Sweet, so all we have to do once the robots take over is for them to blue screen! Wouldn't make near as cool of a movie plot though... Pretty sweet tech though. Send one of these little guys through the door first. Beats the hell out of a human going through first.

[melloncollie @ Oct 8th 2007 6:41PM]

These Terminator jokes are already old.

[Matthew Hilario @ Oct 8th 2007 7:01PM]

okay did we not learn anything from robocop? this is ED-209 baby.

[bjrcboy @ Oct 8th 2007 7:04PM]

Apple would do it better...

I JUST HAD TO DO IT! haah

[steve @ Oct 8th 2007 7:24PM]

i think the apple version would have a disabled gun
but it would look really nice
youd have to hack it to make the gun work

plus i can see steve jobs with a universal remote to make the kill bots eradicate the windows users so that he may become the overlord of computing

just had to say it
HAHA

[bjrcboy @ Oct 8th 2007 7:34PM]

HAHA naw man.. steve jobs would go on record saying they wont support but wont hinder hackers either.. then a new firmware would roll around and kill everyone who attempted to fuck with it. haahhaha

[dUN @ Oct 8th 2007 7:05PM]

is not on windows, right?!

[Boynamedsue @ Oct 8th 2007 7:25PM]

Hey laser-lips, your mama was a snow blower!

[Yojimbo @ Oct 8th 2007 11:34PM]

Number 5 is ALIVE, bitches!

[ikiryou @ Oct 8th 2007 7:26PM]

I heard about these earlier today. Apparently, the bullets they fire don't actually cause any harm. They just turn the enemy into flaming, pissed-off homosexuals, which actually doubles their lethality on the battlefield.

Seriously, as far as I'm concerned, it's only a robot if it's automated and sentient enough to make decisions and movements without a human's input.

[Panq @ Oct 9th 2007 2:55AM]

Yeah, this is no more a robot than any other radio-controlled car, really...

[emjoi @ Oct 8th 2007 7:53PM]

As a Programmer, I wonder what goes through the minds of the guys who wrote code for this.

You are writing code that will KILL people.
That would really bother me. I don't think I could do it.

[Shaocaholica @ Oct 8th 2007 7:58PM]

No one is writing code to kill people for this thing. Its 100% human operated.

[miron @ Oct 8th 2007 8:10PM]

The only code this thing has is to _prevent_ it from killing teammates. The common misconception with these is that they have AI. They don't. It's a soldier with a box that contains a monitor, and a few buttons and joysticks. He's pulling the trigger, not the code.

[Matt B @ Oct 8th 2007 8:23PM]

Um....

Who Would Jesus Kill??

[newgalactic @ Oct 8th 2007 8:30PM]

Never mind Terminator's "rise of the machines" threat. What section of government will control these guys? I'm more fearful of a Democrat/Republican minded Kill-Bot, making decisions based upon whatever politically correct society happens to be in control of the "button". Say what you will about the average GI's intelligence, or possible lack there of. But at least GI's share a certain affinity with their targets, being both human/mortal and all. And if that isn't there, there's at least some level accountability for their actions. But with these robot killers, an entire town or protesting group could be killed with nothing but lame finger-pointing following, and firm promises to "hold those responsible accountable for this grave injustice".