Robotex creating gun-toting robots to replace human soldiers
By Darren Murph 
posted December 9th 2007 12:14PM
posted December 9th 2007 12:14PM
It's not as if we haven't seen weapon-wielding robots before, but Robotex is aiming to create a new breed of mechanical soldier that's quick to build and cost effective. The Silicon Valley startup has garnered quite a bit of funding from angel investors, and apparently, it has already created a two-foot tall, motorized robot that can travel ten miles per hour, spin around "on a dime," be controlled remotely and most importantly, "blow a ten-inch hole through a steel door with deadly accuracy from 400 meters." Reportedly, such a critter can be crafted for under $50,000, which is said to be "six times" cheaper than similar alternatives already being tested in Iraq. Of course, there's no telling how soon (or not) these things will actually be called into duty, but we can bet there's already a list forming to be the one behind the remote when it is.[Via InventorSpot]
It's
"spin around on a dime"
not
spin around "on a dime"
You're spinning on the circumference of the dime.
but can it strafe?
Robot: "I'll shoot both your eyes out!"
OS by microsoft. lol.
I wonder if they could move faster while brandishing a knife?
Nope, they will move faster brandishing a Scout.
wasn't that shotgun on futureweapons?
What if both sides have them?
Mechwarrior anyone?
and it still can't go down a flight of stairs...
oh well, let's hope it wasn't programmed to feel pain...
what else is new?
So if we get in a war with China, are they going to send waves of bomb laden Roombas against our bots?
Old: Boom! Head Shot!
New: Boom! Nut Shot!
But how does it reload?
You simply return it to you little base and replace the ammo.
It has (optional) drums with hundreds of bullets, and you might as well ask 'how do soldiers resupply?'
And while it's searching for a target, someone can sneak up behind it and flick the off switch.
Hey presto, $50k coffee table.
In Vietnam we lost multi-million dollar aircraft to 10 cent bullets. We fired our 'Hi-Tech' munitions at abandon at the onset of our invasion of Iraq. At a couple of million dollars per cruise missile, we managed to kill ONE of Hussein's decadent sons, while taking out hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqi citizens. This "war", as it is now being waged, is ludicrous. Fighting it with "technology" is doubly ludicrous. Our 'enemy' didn't exist before our invasion. Terrorists have existed ever since minorities (civil, sectarian and financial) have been deprived of what they might consider their 'birthrights'. That may be oil, as in the case of Saudi Arabia. Osama likely considers the Saudi royalty and their 'connections' with the US as being a threat to the well-being and future of the people of Saudi Arabia. That country is controlled by a regime that is certainly not less oppressive than was that of the late Saddam Hussein (Another "ex" ally of the US"). It doesn't take too much of a stretch of the imagination that this spoiled, self indulgent, somewhat imperialistic nation of ours is going to run out of friendly allies....Our European "allies" have been paying 'through the nose' for gasoline for the last 60 years, compared to the 'sop' given to us by our great benefactors: cheap gasoline and cheap airplane tickets...Everything we DON'T need is cheap. Those things we DO need are not affordable. Medical care and housing are out of sight for a significant portion of our public. Those that 'have it' are giving it up to a bankrupt mortgage scheme. Our "gross" (gag) national product is DEBT.....Our administration would have the public get into the phony "market" to secure its future. That same administration has allowed my dollar to lose at least 30% of its purchasing power...
By and large, most of this planet's problems are caused by our burgeoning population. When my country inadvertently kills innocent civilians while purposefully denying other equally innocent people access to birth control information or contraceptive medications or devices is a true demonstration of hypocricy.
Alcohol, in the USA has never been cheaper; Methadrine costs less than Starbucks; chocolates are cheap, energy consuming products are dirt cheap, albeit many ARE somewhat more energy efficient than in years past.
I simply want to suggest that my society should realize that our 'technological supremacy' as it now exists, has been spawned by "Big Oil"..
Back to the issue of "Robowarriors".....
Quite a few years ago, the US ARMY put an enlistment 'ad' on TV demonstrating how a 'modern' infantryman could either 'hold off' or 'take out' a whole division of enemy armored vehicles.
Well, I'm an ex-Navy CPO. I'll happily concede that I had no significant combat experiences in my 27+ years of affiliation with my country's armed forces.....Nevertheless, when I first viewed the aforementioned recruiting ad, my immediate thought was: "I hope the poor bastard's extension cord is long enough"...
Fellow Americans: Do you get my drift??
Teach your kids and grandkids that the 'good
times' are already over. Time to tighten our belts, eh? There just ain't no more 'cheap oil'....
Yeah, we have lots of coal...Buy your grandkids their gas masks for X-mas....
I saw some a report on iraq or afghanistan on tv the other day and the soldiers had the topmounted gun on their hummers but now they added bulletproof glass to the rear/sides (finally), but what struck me as somewhat ironic was that to rotate the assembly it seems the gunner has to crank a lever like mad.. making you wonder where the technology went.
Seems not that complex to put an electric motor on the crank and a pair of buttons.
So much for technology in iraq/afghanistan eh, seems the budget is getting tight or something.
Hey, regarding European gas prices, that is mainly exorbitant European taxes. The before-tax price is roughly equivalent. If gas really cost more because the arabs were overcharging them, they'd be buying from us, at a small profit for us. It's called arbitrage.
And as for this administration causing our dollar to be in trouble... true, in the sense that they didn't put the dollar back on a gold/silver basis. But I would blame the Nixon administration more, as they switched the dollar to a fiat currency in the first place.
And finally, I doubt OBL objects to the Saudis as much as you think; they are no real friends to us, they're conning us out of our money, and spreading Wahabbism across the globe, all the while making Washington treat them like best buddies. I'm sure OBL gets quite a kick out of watching them put one over on the great satan. He may wish they'd go for outright war, but he surely doesn't mind such open advantage-taking.
Since the video advertising this robot was made by a disney guy perhaps the plan is to use this to protect apple from leaks.
Could I control it with my PSP? :-)
Wouldn't a device that emits an EMP over the battlefield just simply fry the chips in these machines?
I want one. I think everyone should have one. And have the right to use it wherever and whenever he or she feels necessary. Even kids from, say about 6th grade up should be taught how to operate one. You can't be too safe, you know, with all the criminals and Osama and other baddies running around. Always remember 9/11. We're under a constant threat from terrorism and WE NEED TO BE PREPARED! I just hope technology improves so that these things can be made small enough to carry around. For battlefield use they could be fitted with tactical nukes! Write your representatives TODAY and DEMAND that these weapons be made available to the public. Let us never overlook our God-given Second Amendment right to bear arms!!! God bless the USA, the NRA, the Confederate Flag, Budweiser, pickup trucks, and NASCAR!
This is me, for now, signing off.
--for those who need a clue.
Uh, for those who need a clue, that WAS sarcasm.
johnny 5 is alive?